Modernism in Design

Modernism is many things and has without a doubt changed the world in major ways on a major scale. It is the perfect example of the potential art has to change the world. Unfortunately it was more of a cosmetic change, however, surprisingly a real change followed. (Although that’s debatable…) Our generation has a vastly different outlook on life than the people living back in the days when the modernist movement was taking place and this could be the result of the new image they have created. Meaning that the change wasn’t instant, but actually very much delayed. Would we really “feel” different if things looked the same way they were in the 1800’s? I doubt our mentality would have had the drastic shift it did if not for the change in image society underwent. We literally feel like a modern society and therefore try to act like one by protecting human rights and freedom. That means a cosmetic change can cause a real one.

The reason it might have been more of a cosmetic change is because a lot of the same problems exist. You cannot change human nature overnight or over a century for that matter. We still lie, cheat, hate, and discriminate. It might only seem like things changed but did they really? Our disdain for the past and hope of the future is what drove the movement at heart. (It seems) That’s why we stripped our products from decorations, to destroy anything that would reference the past. It worked, today’s buildings, furniture, and designs have almost nothing in common with those of the past. Yet if feels like a lot of the old problems persist.

Truth was another major theme in the modernist movement. We have been lied to, manipulated, and dominated by our governments for centuries. We sought to erase that. In fact we sought to erase hierarchy altogether if not history itself. I am doubtful that design has anything to do with truth though. Truth is important and takes us in the right direction every time, but how do we know that modernist design isn’t a lie pretending to be the truth? Design is a façade by nature so it can’t exactly be truthful.