Bauhaus Design

Visit this website to see Bauhaus design exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 2010. 

"The ultralight drinking glasses from CB2; a wandlike toilet-bowl brush from Muji; the pedestal Docksta table from Ikea set with woven vinyl Chilewich mats and surrounded by Jasper Morrison Air chairs: What do these elements of the fastidiously up-to-date kitchen have in common? They are the distant (and not so distant) offspring of the Bauhaus, the German school of art, architecture, and design that was open for a mere fourteen years, closed 76 years ago, introduced the word sleek to our design vocabulary, and changed the way we think about daily-use items.” –NYMag. 

 Try the "Kandinsky Questionaire" and click on "Checklist" to view works in the exhibition.

László Moholy-Nagy, Photogram, 1926

Russian Constructivism and Bauhaus Design

Constructivism:
A movement with origins in Russia, Constructivism was primarily an art and architectural movement. It rejected the idea of art for arts' sake and the traditional bourgeois class of society to which previous art had been catered. Instead it favored art as a practise directed towards social change or that would serve a social purpose. Developing after World War I, the movement sought to push people to rebuild society in a Utopian model rather than the one that had led to the war.

The term construction art was first coined by Kasmir Malevich in reference to the work of Aleksander Rodchenko. Graphic Design in the constructivism movement ranged from the production of product packaging to logos, posters, book covers and advertisements. Rodchenko's graphic design works became an inspiration to many people in the western world including Jan Tschichold and the design motif of the constructivists is still borrowed, and stolen, from in much of graphic design today. 


from: http://www.designishistory.com/1920/constructivism/

Bauhaus Design

The Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in Modernist architecture and modern design.^[1] The Bauhaus had a profound influence upon subsequent developments in art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography. Bauhas was influenced in part by 19th century English designer William Morris, who had argued that art should meet the needs of society and that there should be no distinction between form and function. Thus the Bauhaus style, also known as the International Style, was marked by the absence of ornamentation and by harmony between the function of an object or a building and its design.

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus

1) What are the commonalities between these two schools of design?

2) What are some of the commonalities you can see between the designs of buildings, objects and graphics in Bauhaus design?

2) Do some more Google research - why do you think these designers were so interested in function and opposed to ornamentation? 

Classes resume Thursday – Vote Tuesday!

Hi everyone;
RVCC classes will resume on Thursday. For our next class please work hard on the current project, bring in lots of sketches, ideas, and practice transfers. PLEASE ALSO BRING IN A USED BOOK TO USE FOR YOUR FINAL PROJECT.

Also - voting day is tomorrow - GO VOTE. It is the most important thing you can do.

If you don't know where your voting location is:
1) Go to Google and type in "Where do I vote?"
2) In the Voter Information box, type in your address
Google with give you the location and map of your official voting location.

Post a photo of you voting, and tell your friends to go vote!

People in Soweto lined up to vote in South Africa's first post-apartheid election in 1994.

Hurricane information - RVCC Facebook page

I hope everyone is safe and sound. I have received a few messages from students wondering if I have more information.

Since the RVCC website is down and the college is still without power, you guys can use the RVCC Facebook page for information. For the RVCC Facebook page click here.

Here is the most recent message from the President, posted yesterday:

Message from President Casey Crabill regarding Hurricane Sandy

RVCC’s website will be available on Sunday evening to report whether the College will be open on Monday. The opening of the College is dependent on when power is restored and when we can provide a safe environment for our students. We understand that even if power is restored to the campus, many of our students remain without power. We are aware of this situation and are developing educational strategies to accommodate the needs of our students. 

In returning to school, please use your best judgment and remember that road closures, as well as the availability of fuel, should be considered. We recognize the severity of Hurricane Sandy and will share information with you as our recovery process continues. Stay safe and I look forward to returning to campus soon.

Casey Crabill

Making Art: Chapter 2 (2nd half) - post for 10/31

1) Select a quote or phrase from one of the artist statements featured in Chapter 2 that you think is very different from how you think about making art, and describe how this idea is new and different to you.

2) What is the difference between denotation and connotation in terms of the interpretation of an artwork?

Making Art Chap. 2: respond for 10/24

met·a·phor

   [met-uh-fawr, -fer]

noun

something used, or regarded as being used, torepresent something else; emblem; symbol.

al·le·go·ry

   [al-uh-gawr-ee, -gohr-ee] 

noun, plural al·le·go·ries.

1.

a representation of an abstract or spiritualmeaning through concrete or material forms;figurative treatment of one subject under theguise of another.

2.

a symbolical narrative: the allegory of  PiersPlowman.

Questions – Respond to the following:

1) If one views Zaha Hadid's Roenthal Center for Contemporary Art as a building made up of stacked, floating, interlocking boxes, how is its form a metaphor for how Hadid felt the space should be used?

2) Respond to this sentence from Chapter 2; "Both artist and viewer are engaged in an exchange of meaning-making when works of art are successfully made and received."

3) If an artist statement is not to "explain" art to viewers, what other functions does it serve?

Kiki Smith, Rapture, 2001

Instructions for Wednesday 5/17

For next week's class, please remember to bring:

-Digital images to begin working on the David Hockney photo collage project. The digital images must be on a flash drive or saved in your Dropbox cloud.

-Your work for the midterm portfolio (mounted).

By Monday, send me your Typography assignment that we were going to look at in class this week. You can email this file to me. You may send the Illustrator file, or save it as a jpeg and send it to me. (To save as a jpeg, open your project in Illustrator, choose File>Export, select "jpeg" from the pulldown menu.)

David Hockney