Choosing a particular period from the 1800 to the present, in what ways has art or design responded to the changing social and cultural forces of that period? (2 Examples)
Intro
In the early 1950’s British youth subcultures began to rise after the initial decade of the Teddy Boys then saw the counter culture of the Mod. A subculture is a group in society that have the same distinct cultural values and behaviour. The Teddy Boy was the first noticeable youth subculture that distinguished themselves as teenagers; where as the Mod was seen as the first subculture generation to neglect their parent’s views and life goals.
Para 1 Teds/ Pop art
During the 1950’s the introduction of Rock n Roll in society with the following of youth and essentially I believe a beginning of the term ‘cool’. The Teddy Boy would be split of wealthy boys from wealthy upbringings and working class boys. They adopted the look of tweaked Edwardian fashion that only finished forty years prior in which the style that their grand parents or possibly their parents would have worn. In doing this Teddy Boy created a youth market allowing struggling post World War II businesses to thrive, for example Savile Row Tailors. They would wear drape jackets, drainpipe trousers, skinny ties and creepers, which were an essential item. The trademark drape jacket was seen as recognition to the culture but they also allowed large hidden pockets that they could hide alcohol and weapons. This subculture was known for being troublesome and violent, famously at UK showings of Blackboard Jungle where ‘The Teds’ rioted in the cinema ripped up the seats and danced in the aisles. From then on across the UK this happened at most showings of the film. Developing in the subculture was strands of new ideas and some Teddy Boys had fascist tendencies that that attacked the West Indians that immigrated to Britain in the mid Fifties. In the fifties, because of the destruction of World War Two, London was in desperate need of redevelopment. In an attempt improve British spirit and encourage better design, it was decided to hold a national exhibition “The Festival Of Britian” which took place in the summer of 1951. The festivals official graphic designer, Abram Games his work famous for the BBC symbol. During this time in the united states of America the graphic design industry was going through a revolution where one of the first visual arts magazines ‘Portfolio’ would be created by Brodovitch which had a style and flow that had never been seen before.
This decade moving also along side Abstract Expressionism and Pop art brought new design to the public eye. This was more available as the growth of the mass media and post World War II efforts to recover. During this time, teenagers came to have more leisure time and more disposable income. The effect that this had on most industries largely including design and advertising was very substantial. Pop Art was found in most visual communication, they were challenging the approaches to culture and he traditional views of Fine Art. In the late nineteen fifties Brodovitch essentially introduced the idea of the simplified modern outlook on graphic design shown through his role as creative director at many magazine companies.
Para 2 MOD
The Mod originating from modernist, started in London town, not to be confused with the wider known term of the movement, modernism. British youth culture, The Mods created from the youth of working class families, the Mods were lunched with the growth of popular culture movement in the fifties was heavily influenced by Italian fashion; the increase of youth employment saw the rise in youth spending of luxury items like suits, Parkas and Vespa mopeds. The like-minded youth would gather at cafes and nightclubs that increased the obsession with clean-cut fashions and American R&B bands or British bands influenced by them, for example, The Who.
The Mods could be seen as a fashion development from the Teddy Boy with they suits but the music and their ideologies although some similarities the Mods diversified into more African American Soul, Jamaican Ska and British beat music that took influence from the previous. Dick Hebdige claims in his book that Mods "appear to have been a group of working-class dandies, possibly descended from the devotees of the Italianite [fashion] style." Bands like The Who wore very patriotic British flag blazers and suits whilst performing and started to use the RAF’s Roundel logo with the blue, white and red circles. Although the Roundel logo was designed in 1915 in Vietnam to help ground soldiers see who wasn’t the enemy. Initially the design was a flag but there was confusion with the enemy’s, which lead to friendly fire. The symbol was very well known at the end of world war two as the British could see the symbol on the planes protecting their skies against the Nazi’s. The early Mods being the generation of where their parents would have been in the war, the symbol held a subliminal value of being proud to be British. Heavy influences on society and its music culture lead to the adoption of the RAF’s Roundel. This roundel would be the trademark of The Mod through popular culture. Design in the early sixties effectively had moved on and was not just about form and function, it was now about style, which Brodovitch had introduced in the previous decade that penetrated the popular culture and was prevalent in the arts industry. The social liberation made way for progress and freedom in ideas viewpoints in which creating the Mods. Moving away from the traditional fifties, the new youth culture took hold spreading internationally predominantly in London, New York and Paris. Design was now part of society and culture, erupting imagination of designers and public alike. There was a newfound need for luxury items, like washing machines.
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{References}
[1] Hebdige, Dick. "The Meaning of Mod". In Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain. Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson, eds. London. Routledge, 1993. Page 167
{Bibliography}
The Teds ISBN 1-899235-44-2
MOD a very british Phenomenon ISBN 0-7119-6818-6