Modernism in Ideology, Design, & Art

What Modernism Opposed: The Design and Art of (What It Considered) Decadence

John Henry Belter, Sofa, ca. 1850

(Click to enlarge; Milwaukee Art Museum; fair use)

What Modernism Was For: The Design and Art That (It Thought) Would Create a "New, Non-decadent Man"

Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona Sofa, ca. 1929

(Click to enlarge; Iconic Interiors; fair use)

Is Modernism a Political Ideology, dedicated to creating a "new, non-decadent Man"; a Political Ideology that Is the Contrary of Traditional Conservatism?

Stephen Eric Bronner, "The Modernist Impulse: Subjectivity, Resistance, Freedom," Modernism at the Barricades: Aesthetics, Politics, Utopia (Columbia UP,

2012): 1-20

The Aims of Modernism and Purism in Design Theory, and How They, With Admirable Social Intentions, Pulled Makers and Buyers Away from

Craft

Paul Greenhalgh, “Introduction,” Modernism in Design (Reaktion, 1990): 1-25.

Glenn Parsons, “Modernism,” The Philosophy of Design (Polity, 2015): 55-68

Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., “What Is Modern Design?” “What Is Good Design? What Is Modern Design? (MoMA, 1950): 7-9

So you'd like to see how modernist architecture and industrial design tried to carry out this ideology and these aims, fostering the birth of a "new, non-decadent Man":

"The Shock of the New: Episode 4: Trouble in Utopia," with Robert Hughes (BBC, 1980)

"The Genius of Design: Episode 2: Designs for Living," (BBC, 2010)

So you'd like to see how modernism challenged traditional authority in all its forms:

"The Shock of the New: Episode 2: The Powers that Be,"

How modernism in art and architecture carried out and expressed the commitment to absolute freedom and desire satisfaction described by Bronner:

"The Shock of the New: Episode 5: The Threshold of Liberty,"

How modernism carried out the commitment to the authentic expression of extreme emotions described by Bronner:

"The Shock of the New: Episode 6: The View from the Edge,"