Thursday, October 3, 2013

GROUP WORK(Powerpoint Presentation)

These are screenshots of a group work presentation on Futurism

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WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

The Atomic Bomb

·  It’s also known as the nuclear bomb.
·  The atom bomb creates an explosion through a process called nuclear fission where the nuclei of atoms split apart.


Model of the "Little Boy" atom bomb


Model of the "Fat-Man" atom bomb

In 1939, before the beginning of World War II, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Franklin. D. Roosevelt. He and several scientists informed the president about Nazi Germany’s attempts to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build the atomic bomb. Under the code-name “The Manhattan Project”, the United States Government started their own experiments for a viable atomic bomb. Over the course of the war, from 1939 to 1945 over $2 billion was spent on the Manhattan Project. The man who led the project was Robert Oppenheimer.


The atom bomb being successfully tested in New Mexico 

On July 16, 1945 when the atom bomb was tested, it ushered in the atomic age. The explosion created radioactive material and it had a characteristic mushroom cloud. The atom bomb has been use only two times in warfare. The first was in Hiroshima and the second in Nagasaki. On August 6, 1945 a uranium bomb was dropped Hiroshima, killing 66 000 people instantly and injuring 69 000. “Fat Man” was a plutonium bomb, much powerful than the one that struck Hiroshima, was dropped over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. This time 39 000 people were killed and it left 25 000 injured.

Mushroom cloud after Nagasaki blast, 1945

TECHNOLOGY

The Influence of Technology In My Daily Life

From Monday to Friday I make use of the alarm to wake up in the morning. I’ve set it on my phone to go off at 06:00 and after waking up, I often switch on the lights before going to the shower. My speakers by my bedside are always plugged in as I play music regularly either from a phone or a laptop. At times I press my clothes before going to school.

Going to school I would put on my wristwatch to keep up with time. I would carry with me earphones as listening to music puts my mind at ease and being able to do it on the go is welcomed. At the school’s gates students have to use their fingers to get scanned by electronic devices in order to enter the premises. It’s the same case when I use my student card to access my department. In there there’d be computers in the labs and offices used by students and staff respectively. For my Digital Design module I have to log in one of the computers to start doing my work. Every now and again the air condition unit is switched on to regulate the temperature.

Apart from the computers, I get to use the printer from time to time and there’s also a scanner available. The use of multiple computers has me using either a USB drive or an external hard drive to move files. With many of the computers prone to viruses, the best way to move files is to “airdrop” them between computers. It’s safer, wireless way that uses Wi-Fi connectivity to move files. As with my room, the labs have lights everywhere. To monitor personnel in the building, the department has installed a number of cameras in different labs.
During lessons lectures makes use of overhead projectors to make presentations and they are available to students as well. There’s a school camera that can be used when students want to take photographs.

Technology can be seen also in the surrounding environment. There multiple cars that arrive at the school daily and they travel on tar roads. In many areas of the school there is paving. Students also make use of the bathrooms that are a form of technology. Going to the canteen and buying a product, the cashier has to a machine to give you change. In a number of places around the school, there are vending machines put in place. The buildings themselves make use of materials and architectural principles to function efficiently. The labs contain different types of furniture that make use of technologically advanced materials.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

GROUP MANIFESTO-FUTSEK!

Futsek!
We take the idea of speed from the Futurists and shun the aspect of violence.
Rebellion is what we embrace.
In the context of design we see speed as an idea of progression and triumph.
We believe in freedom of the creative mind.
We believe in freedom of the creative mind.
Breaking away from set structures and to have ones existing abilities be refined and not altered.
A knife cannot be turned into a spoon but merely sharpened.
We see blank walls as our devices and mediums yearning to be activated.
Say no to outdated hardware and software which is meant to destroy that which we designed.


Pfff.
Mmm
Mxm
Oooh
Zzz
Interesting…





GROUP WORK (FUTURISM MANIFESTO)

Introduction

What is a futurist?
A futurist is someone who studies the future in way to assist people in gaining understanding, anticipate and to prepare for coming changes. It is the uses of foresight to explain or describe what could happen in the future. This may include driving forces, assumption, evidence or indicators of the future. (Association professional futurist, 2013). This was how futurism came about through the minds of a futurist. Futurism, “is an artist movement originated in Italy around 1909.With aims to express the energetic, dynamic and violent quality of contemporary life, especially as embodies in the motion and force of modern machinery.” (Houghton Mufflin, 2009).

History of Futurism
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

Futurism was an art and social movement which originated in Italy around the 20th century and was formed by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, the father of the Futurist movement.  One could say that the Futurist movement glorified themes associated with the vision and concept of the future.  These themes include technology, speed, violence, youth, etc.
 This idea or rather this concept of Futurism was jogged by Marinetti’s near death experience, him involved in a car accident. The manifesto was written around 1909 and was published on the 20 February 1909 in the French daily newspaper, Le Figaro

­ Before moving forward we understand that the Industrial Revolution formed the foundation for the modern world were technology became rapid; we first see the steam engine being invented which lead up to the invention of the motorcar in 1885. This formed basis of their obsession in emphasising speed, violence, etc in their artwork.  The Futurist demonstrated their obsession with the concept of the future in their artwork through the use of brushstrokes, which showed continuous movement.  Futurism was one of the first movements that directly targeted the mass audience

The Ideology

The idea of development was a key driving force behind the movement of Futurism. The Futurist expressed ideas of speed, aggression, rebellion and the beauty of modern technology. Futurism captured the city life, modern machinery and it main idea was to appose the beliefs and traits of an Avant-guard era. 

Looking at the sources that we have gathered we believe that this ideology was prompted by inventions that occurred at that particular space and time. Even though it did take place during the early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution plays its role towards modern civilisation. It was the late 19th and early 20th century that saw Futurisms arrival. The three key inventions we identified were: the motorcar (1885), wireless telegraph (1895) and the airplane (1903). These inventions sparked the idea of speed, which was what the Futurists stood for. They collapsed the existence of space and time rendering it absolute.

The Futurists touched on 5 areas of experimentation:

·       Light and colour 
·       Movement and speed
·       Plastic dynamism of form
·       The interpenetration of form
·       Prismatic/ Shattering

Light and colour were rendered in an abstract manner. Plastic dynamism was expressed through the method of simultaneity and the state of capturing the subject in its mobile and immobile state brought about the quality of dynamism. A good example would be the artwork Dynamism of Dog on a Leash.  Areas such interpenetration and Shattering give the idea of closely analysing the subject hence explaining their in-depth expression of the beauty of the machine.

Giacomo Balla-Dynamism of Dog on a Leash

The telegraph was considered as the mode of communication at the time and it inspired Marinetti to instil a belief to the futurists.  To send a telegram one had keep in mind the fact that the telegraph used a “pay-per-word” method, so one would have to limit the amount of thing said when encoding a message. Marinetti encouraged poets to use this clipped like language. Poets were encouraged to skip the analogy process when expressing metaphors and artists were encouraged likewise with their artworks.  When the wireless telegraph came about Marinetti encouraged the idea of “wireless imagination”

The Victory of Samothrace
Filippo Marinetti had the opportunity to study the Victory of Samothrace as a student. This statue is a Greek marble statue depicting the goddess of victory, Nike. Marinetti compared the ancient statue (which dates back to 190 B.C.) to a speeding car. Unlike most classic sculptures this marble statue portrays a sense of being dynamic and it possesses a quality of movement. Through his analysis he believes the racing car to be more attractive and in stating this he favours the beliefs of the futurists over the beliefs of an arts and craft or Avant guard era. This also means that symbolism and aura that went with the statue has now manifested in the race car with in roaring motor.  

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti was an Italian poet born on the 20 February 1876 in Egypt. He went under the name Emilio Angelo Carlo before changing it. Marinetti began his education in 1884 in France where he studied law at the University of Pavia. His wealthy father was the one who commanded him to pursue a career in law. At the age of seventeen he created his first magazine called ‘Le Papyrus’. In 1898 he published his first poem ‘The Cup-Bearer’ and the next year he got his degree.  His interests thou were in law so he relocated to Paris to purse a career in poetry.
On October 15, 1908 he was involved in an accident that inspired him to invent futurism, and arts-and-literature movement. The following year in on the 20th of February Marinetti published ‘The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism’ in a number of Italian newspapers and also the Paris newspaper, Le Figaro. He became a prominent typographer and implemented onomatopoeia in his works.
In 1911 Italian biplanes raided provinces of the Ottoman Empire and Marinetti explains that the lack concern shown by the Arabs towards the biplanes was reflected by society’s attitude toward Futurism.
Analysis of artwork
The Futurists wanted to break away from the Classical and Renaissance styles that dominated Italy at the start of the twentieth century. The movement was striving to portray speed and forceful dynamism. The goal for the work was to depict a synthetic continuity of motion.

For some, the sculpture shows a striding into the future. The sculpture has an aerodynamic and fluid form. As a pedestal, two blocks at the feet connect the figure to the ground. Its undulating surface seems to transform before the eyes of the viewer. One can say the Boccioni sculpted a future-man: masculine, dynamic and driven in his stride.

The face of the sculpture is abstracted into a cross, suggesting a helmet, which is appropriate reference for the ‘war-hungry’ Futurists. The figure doesn’t appear to have arms, though wing like forms appear from the back. These protrusions are not necessarily part of the figure itself since Boccioni sculpted the figure and its immediate environment. The air displaced by the figure’s movements is rendered in forms no different than those of the actual body. For example, the flame-like shapes that begins at the calves and shows the air swirling away from the body in motion.

Boccioni continued the theme of human movement seen in his paintings such as “Dynamism of a Soccer Player, 1913”. Movement was a key element for Boccioni and the other futurists, as the technology of transportation allowed people to experience even greater speeds. The blurry, fleeting, fragmentary sight created by this new velocity.
This is a very unique type of art. The bronze sculpture has three-dimensional traits, yet it upholds a different trait. It is able to capture and stop time and movement. It can be compared to Eadweard Muybridge’s “Female Semi-Nude in Motion”.

Boccioni is very successful in presenting two-dimensional effects. He cloaked the true figure in the clothing of atmospheric effects, thus the work is no longer just an object but also the forces that act upon the subject. Just as a picture captures a scene, Boccioni locks this one moment onto this “box”. The time is very finite. It has captured only one moment of a series of events.
Report on delegation of tasks and presentation
Digapeng was assigned to analysing the artwork and Ntsako was responsible for the Aesthetics of the movement. Khani was dealing with the history of the movement and overview of Futurism while Morena was responsible for the ideology of the movement. Ditiro was the key artist of the movement and the PowerPoint presentations
The research was shared amongst the group members and each had to gather findings on their particular task. For the actual presentation Khani did the introduction of the and talked about the history of Futurism. Morena followed with a discussion of the movements’ ideology.
Ditiro gave a background of the key artist and talked about the aims of the movement. Khani further explained the aesthetics of the movement and Digapeng gave the analysis of the chosen artwork. For the second part of the presentation Digapeng introduced the group manifesto and Ditiro explained what the movement is about.
Ntsako was not present on the day of the presentation.

Group Members
Mapiti Ditiro Shayi MGI 2010-1746
Morena Moletsane MGI 2011-1989
Digapeng Mothibe MGI 2011-0098
Khanimambo Mkhombo MGI 2010-0634
Ntsako Mabunda MGI 2010-0210

The Bauhaus


Walter Gropius

Walter Gropius was named the director of the Bauhaus after gaining international reputation for his factory design using steel and glass in new ways. He fused the already established Weimar Art and Craft school with the Weimar Art academy to establish the Bauhaus.

Paul Klee

Expressionism inspired the Bauhaus design language during its existence in Weimar, with Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky being prominent figures. Paul Klee utilized a crosspollination of ideas to create drawings from painting that are visually charged. Kandinsky had a vast knowledge of colour which helped his painting stand out.

Johannes Itten

Johannes Itten established a preliminary course for students, which helped them understand the nature of material and the fundamental principal of design in all visual art, until he left the Bauhaus in 1923.

Van Doesburg

Apart from expressionism, De Stijl movement, which was introduced by Lyonel Feininger, contributed to the Bauhaus philosophy. In 1920 Van Doesburg became a driving force for the De Stijl movement that was complimented by his insistence in geometric designs.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

The greatest impact at the Bauhaus came from the constructivist, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy .Who advocated the philosophy of form following function. His experimentation with vast number of materials and visual techniques led to him working with the photogram. These experiments with photogram helped him produce photomontages that solidified his view that photography is about painting. A photogram is produced with the usage of light to get a patterned image without using a camera.  

Herbert Bayer

Typography at the Bauhaus was represented by the works of Herbert Bayer. This prominent typographer was encouraged by Gropius to move to Dessau. He had an extensive use for san-serif and designed a universal type that was clear and simple.

Time Line

·      1919- Bauhaus was established.

·      1920-Von Doesburg came through and taught the De Stijl movement.

·      1920 and 1922- The staff of the Bauhaus was joined by painters Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky respectively.

·      1923-Bauhaus launched on exhibition. Bauhaus moved from a concern of the Art and Craft to using new technology by designing for the machine.

·      1923- Bauhaus evolved from medieval, expressionism, handcraft towards more emphasis on rationalism and designing for machine.Laszlo Moholy-Nagy becomes the head of the preliminary Course at the Bauhaus.

·      1924-Directors all signed resignation letters due to tension with government. Two weeks later the students followed.

·      1925- They moved to the new location. Dessau. They moved after Gropius negotiated with the major Dr Fritz.

·      1926- A new building was designed and occupied.The Bauhaus was renamed Hochschue fur Gestaltung (High School for form) and began a magazine publication in the same year
.
·      1927-Hennes Meyer was hired to set up or architectural program and became the director in 1928.

·      1928-Gropius resigned Moholy- Nagy and Bayer left for Berlin to pursue Graphic Design and typography.  

ROLE PLAYERS

Walter Gropius- Walter Gropius was named the director of the Bauhaus.

Paul Klee- Wassily Kandinsky- Visually charged (expressionism).

Johannes Itten-   established a preliminary course for students.

Van Doesburg- Introduced the De Stijl movement with geometric design.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy- A constructivist in design.

Herbert Bayer- A typographer.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Artists and their artwork (EXPRESSIONISM)



Figure 1 Vincent Van Gogh Self-portrait as a painter, 1888

Figure 2 Paul Gauguin Landscape--Farmhouse-In-Arles-large
Figure 3 Marc Chagall Small Drawing Room. 1908
Figure 4 Wassily Kandinsky  Archer. 1909 year
Figure 5 Frans Hals two boys singing
Figure 6 Walter Tandy Murch The Clock, 1950
Figure 7 George Rouault Christ et disciples, 1905
Figure 8 Francisco De Goya  Charles-IV-And-His-Family-large
Figure 9 Kathe Kollwitz Self Portrait 1898
Figure 10 Kathe Kollwitz Woman with Dead Child 1903

Figure 1: Self-portrait as a painter, 1888

Figure 2: Landscape--Farmhouse-In-Arles-large

Figure 3: Small Drawing Room. 1908

Figure 4: Archer. 1909 year

Figure 5: two boys singing

Figure 6: The Clock, 1950

Figure 7: Christ et disciples, 1905
Figure 8: Charles-IV-And-His-Family-large
Figure 9: Self Portrait 1898
Figure 10: Woman with Dead Child 1903