Design Rockism

[imomus]

My latest article for AIGA Voice magazine is Design Rockism. Trace design's topsy-turvy path from Josef Muller-Brockmann's 'Grid Systems' to the Groovisions Brockmann doll!

Comments

[stanleylieber.livejournal.com]

I think the subtle schism here may be a simple difference of opinion over whether or not such "primitive," "pre-modern" cultures have really persisted unaffected by the prevelance of post-modern ideas we must navigate here in the West. This apparently untainted outlook may mask a deeper, conscious rejection of the ideas in question, though perhaps the vast majority of the actual people would be unaware that the conflict was playing out (just as the vast majority of Westerners are probably unaware of the issues we're discussing here; yet still participiate in propagating the post-modern philosophies they are unaware of embodying).

This is not to say I fully agree with Momus. I think there are gradations that reward consideration. While post-modernism may indeed be a poisonous toolset, the awareness of which no philosophy can long survive unaltered, that does not necessitate that merely existing in a world where others have explored an idea means one must find themselves irretreivably beholden to it. It seems that the human mind's primary facility is editing out that which it doesn't wish to consider consciously. As was demonstrated by the invention, loss, and independent rediscovery of the mechanical clock in China, this can even happen completely by accident. Or is it posited that the collective unconscious, once knowledge is gained, preserves it for eternity? The fact that certain humans leveraged an understanding of the principles of physics into the manufacture of aeroplanes did not prevent the "cargo cults" from completely missing the point of the airstrips and aircraft they built non-functional replicas of. Sometimes, simply making contact with a meme is not enough to develop a full-blown infection.

Ultimately I think the rejection of ideologically pure, "non post-modern" thought is akin to those who objected to deconstructionism on the grounds that it was merely wonton destruction for its own sake. The cultural "clean slate" has been sought and exported both downwards and upwards through the class hierarchy at different points in history, this much is documented. Whether or not the complete eradication of the offending memes was successful or not would not seem to be a pre-requisite for statistical, functional success in purifying "common knowledge."

All that said, it seems to me that the distinction itself (between pre-modern and post-modern perspectives) is entirely reliant upon the current rhetorical devices utilized to describe them. We may be simply tying ourselves up with our own conceits. When one truly takes the long view, all communication consists of recontextualizing pre-existing symbols. Cognitively, the process is the same whether we use the Greek alphabet or clippings from Time magazine. The fact that the English language is comprised of symbols from antiquity, while Marcel Duchamp's Next Work consisted of Genesis P. Orridge and an orchestra of participants plucking out musical notes on bicycle spokes with playing cards does not represent a fundamental difference in what each grammar "means" in terms of the awareness and mindset of the person utilizing them. Each are abstract rulesets, whose existence are independent of meaning in and of themselves. With this in mind, we can trace "post-modernism" back to the Phoenecians. (This is not to disregard the importance of reviving an awareness of just what using language entails from time to time, which I think is the process Momus has developed a visceral attachment to.)

It would seem that novelty of these new grammars has much to do with how closely they are studied, and how highly they are regarded. As time goes by, and useage becomes more widespread, they tend to melt into the background.

But it's still the same thing.

[lord-whimsy.livejournal.com]

Well put, Stanley--especially the last two paragraphs.

I'm a 'meltist' as well, you see.

W