Final Thoughts

This class has been a wild ride through graphic design history. The progression from early human record keeping to modern day methods of communication has been fascinating.

The most intriguing aspect of this journey, for me, is the clear transition from writing and image making as a means of keeping long term, accurate record of important facts to writing and image making as a way to influence and communicate ideas. The art of writing and image making began as a way for humans to preserve facts and stories; clay and stone have a long memory, after all. Today, the purpose of writing and image making are legion.

The permanence of created images seems to have been challenged since the invention of technologies such as the internet and the computer. The internet is an ever-changing and ever-expanding space for artists and creative types to push the boundaries of human creativity. There is something real about books, posters, and cave walls which just isn't found in the digital world. This allows for a redefining of what is acceptable to do with an image—there are an infinite number of ways to change a digital image without destroying the original image. True, copying technologies for images exists, so it's technically possible to infinitely change an analog image; however, the ease of change is what sets digital manipulation apart.

Each new epoch of human creation and technology has led to or been involved in a new way of addressing the world. Before the invention of written language, human history could only go back a few generations. Before moveable type and the printing press, free speech was an unknown idea. Before the internet and the spread of mobile information, what we considered "our community" was limited by how far from our residence we could travel. I'm confident that the next revolution of human technology, whatever shape it takes, will have large-scale impact on how we humans do art and design.

Module 10: In Fluxus

FLux Year 2 Box; from wikipedia.org

Fluxus: Latin; literally means to change or to flow.

• A movement rooted in Dada. Began in the 1960s. 
• “Fluxus members avoided any limiting art theories, and spurned pure aesthetic objectives” [1]
• international and interdisciplinary
• George Maciunas—a founder
• Marchel Duchamp—an influence

http://www.ubu.com/aspen/aspen8/index.html
An issue of the magazine Aspen. Shows the interdisciplinary nature of the Fluxus movement; includes music, design, painting, spoken word works.

• Fluxus focuses on bringing about social change in the art world.
• works are mostly irreverent
• integrates everyday experience and found objects and experiences
• minimalist
• Some members were interested in starting their own art communes—Robert Filliou and George Brecht started The Cedilla That Smiles (1965-1968)
• The state of the movement since 1978 (when Maciunas died) has been and is up for debate.

The influences on Fluxus—Dada, minimalism, conceptual art, surrealism—are evident in the works themselves. The Fluxus emphasis on "do-it-yourself", affordability and access to art, and bucking of art trends certainly fits with the general 1960s anti-establishment culture. Fluxus is certainly counter-culture, in that it seeks (or sought, depending on your perspective) to change culture—it isn't just about going against the established culture, but actively seeks to change what culture is all about.

The idea of art "for the people" seems to have roots that go back as far as Gutenberg, and the printing press he created which led to the explosion of literacy. With each technological leap, art for the people (the people being understood to be the lower economic classes) finds new ground. The printing press led to affordable books for the masses; the internet led to free spaces for discussion, the exchange of ideas, and free access to knowledge.

The postmodern idea of the subjectivity of truth can be seen in the Fluxus incorporation of personal experience and everyday objects into their art. The idea of artistic expression first emerged from the Renaissance period in Europe; at that point in history, who created the art began to have importance. From that perspective, it seems only natural that a progression to personal expression would occur.

Works cited:
Meggs, Philip B.; Purvis, Alston W. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. John Wiley and Sons. 2011. Kindle Edition.
http://www.fluxus.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluxus
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1345511/Fluxus

Citations:
1. http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/f/fluxus.html