THE DEFINITION:
- Cutting edge, whats now.
- idea of doing art/design work that is progressive
- Refers to a group of people being innovative
- Being avant-garde in the work you do; challenging, innovating.
- Being a member of the avant-garde
Definition found on Tate Gallery website
Originally a French term, meaning in English, vanguard or advance guard (the part of an army that goes forward ahead of the rest). Applied to art, means that which is in the forefront, is innovatory, which introduces and explores new forms and in some cases new subject matter. In this sense the term first appeared in France in the first half of the nineteenth century and is usually credited to the influential thinker Henri de Saint-Simon, one of the forerunners of socialism. He believed in the social power of the arts and saw artists, alongside scientists and industrialists, as the leaders of a new society. In 1825 he wrote: 'We artists will serve you as an avant-garde¿ the power of the arts is most immediate: when we want to spread new ideas we inscribe them on marble or canvas¿ What a magnificent destiny for the arts is that of exercising a positive power over society, a true priestly function and of marching in the van [i.e. vanguard] of all the intellectual faculties!' Avant-garde art can be said to begin in the 1850s with the Realism of Gustave Courbet, who was strongly influenced by early socialist ideas. This was followed by the successive movements of modern art, and the term avant-garde is more or less synonymous with modern. Some avant-grade movements such as Cubism for example have focused mainly on innovations of form, others such as Futurism, De Stijl orSurrealism have had strong social programmes. The notion of the avant-garde enshrines the idea that art should be judged primarily on the quality and originality of the artists vision and ideas.
Concept of avant garde being neutralised, loss of meaning. It's being used in a reductive way within many forms.
Avant garde - Leading the way forward as a social movement
MARCEL DUCHAMP
'Fountain' - 1917 (metaphorical name for a urinal)
'Mona Lisa' - L, H, O, O, Q
I believe he is trying to prove the loss of meaning to the word 'avant garde', using it in a reductive way compared to what it historically means and was used.
'Fauves' Wild beasts
A new progressive ?
Not gone to art school, did something different, gesture against conventions.
Issuing a challenge through convention?
Conventional art form accepteted as a form of art.
Historic style of art
Uphold convention
Art schools in the past
Long hours copying master until you become accomplished enough to become an artist yourself. Voice is heard through style of another.
HENRY WALLIS - Death of chatterton
Ahead of his time
Myth of artist as tortured genius
Implication death is our fault
Stone breakers
Political gesture - workers are worthy of being the subject of art
Painting realism - a real world
The audience has changed from upper class to lower. Attempt to challenge convention
ART FOR ARTS SAKE
Whistler in black & gold: the falling rocket
Just aesthetically annotative
Not concerned with politics or world
System of aesthetic experimentation
The idea that the artist 'knows whats important, doesnt matter if you don't'
Isolating self from society
CLIVE BELL
"The relations and combinations of lines and colours, which when organised give the power to move someone aesthetically"
Art seen of more value - a lot of people
Writing why art is valuable, produces a system. Critics only needed if art is meaningless to people.
Value given to art by taste makers.
CLEMENT GREENBERG
All art had been leading towards abstract
'Pollock' Lavender mist (1950)
Russian avant-garde
Expresses capitalism in Pollocks work
Elite that doesn't care about the masses
To be able to communicate, art has to be conventional. But to be experimental, its seems you have to rely on conventionality.
Jock Kinnear
No one will understand this is graphic design.
Therefor succeeds as graphic design as its invisible.
Stephen Sagameister (1997)
Design more important than content.
No successful?
Design for designs sake
Vernacular typography - In the common language
KITSCH
DEFINITION: A tasteless copy of art, a form of art considered inferior, worthless imitation
To make something kitsch, you have to determine taste. To make a value judgement. Snobbish in a sense.
Still trying to do what art is doing, but not very well. Aspires but fails.
Strive for identity and fail
"Theres no dispute in matter of taste."
Like things because were told there good?
Art can only be considered that in a gallery? An elitist stance
Art given privilege because its the preserve of the rich
Artists try to out avant-garde each other
Damien hurst Art
Status symbol
Why art seems to be more valuable
Prices of art suddenly went up and up. We had more respect for it.
When in fact it was drug dealers needing to rid of money.
Misconstrues our idea of art
To challenge conceptions of what we take for granted as art. Avant garde to push forward our meaning of art. Aggression to conservative values of art.
Can't be original until we are an 'expert' and taught by a certain set of rules, we work to a brief, for clients.
ART HAS A HIGHER STATUS
Art seems to have a higher status than design, when in fact, 'art' can now be considered as anything. Is it's high status changing?
Art not innotative or 'genious'
Political form of avant garde
TASK
300 WORDS
DESCRIBE WHAT THE CONCEPT OF AVANT-GARDE IS TO ME
FIND TWO EXAMPLES OF GRAPHIC DESIGN WHICH SHOWS THIS
I believe the concept of avant-garde has been neutralised and has lost the meaning it once had; to be that of progressive and new. For the word to be appropriate in describing something, has to have a deeper social and political message, to be passing off an opinion and to challenge conventions and conceptions within art and design work. I'm very much impressed by Marcel Duchamp and his almost 'mocking' pieces of considered artwork. I feel he's being avant-garde in his approach and proving art has lost its once high status and value, and now, absolutely anything can be considered art it the right circumstances and surroundings.
I believe the concept of avant-garde has been neutralised and has lost the meaning it once had; to be that of progressive and new. For the word to be appropriate in describing something, has to have a deeper social and political message, to be passing off an opinion and to challenge conventions and conceptions within art and design work. I'm very much impressed by Marcel Duchamp and his almost 'mocking' pieces of considered artwork. I feel he's being avant-garde in his approach and proving art has lost its once high status and value, and now, absolutely anything can be considered art it the right circumstances and surroundings.
Here are a few examples of what I would consider as avant-garde graphic design. For the reasons that, aesthetically designs don't have to be beautiful, not photo and image quality. These I feel heighten the message trying to be put forward. For instance, a man, wearing a rather cheap, tacky looking santa costume, holding a home made sign, the paper itself crinkled and distraught, with visible Sellotape add's to the message actually on the sign. The topic about the debt christmas creates. This approach to graphic design gives a personal, gritty and believable element to it.
Campaigns are a favourite of mine, when it comes to getting a message across. A recent Starbucks campaign about the increase in drink size, adding to the american obesity crisis. Using destruction and manipulation to their corporate logo, and a clever use of language, gained the media attention protesters wanted. It's avant-garde in its approach to sending out a message.
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