Modernism/Postmodernism - Who cares?

What is the difference in these two isms?

Modernism began around the 1900’s in a period which experienced two world wars. When psychology was defined and society had a belief in progress. During the 1950-60’s there was a transitionary period in which modernism began to fall into postmodernism. Postmodernism started around the 1960’s although the specific time is not clearly defined anywhere because everyone has different views as to when exactly it started.

During the modernism period, people presumed there was a grand narrative. I think that these ideas were the reason that so much progression happened at that time. They believed that things could and would change. And that they were the people that could make it happen. They believed in technology and thought that everything they used to create it should be at the forefront of its industry, and up to date materials also had to be used. During this period the first mobile phone was made. And you could see that architects were beginning to use a lot of concrete and glass for buildings because it was new materials. The belief in progress was a huge aspect of the 1900’s. The Marxism theory suggested that the world (and its ideas) always moved forward and progressed.

Bauhaus (a design school in Germany) believed that form should follow function. They were creating new technology and new ideas. And believed that if the design worked well that the people would buy it and it wouldn’t need extra bits to make it look “good” an example of this is the Porsche 911 – designed in the 1950s by Ferdinand Porsche at Bauhaus. The classic design hasn’t changed much since it was created.

A 1950s Porsche

 During the 1900s psychology and in particular self examination (reflexivity) was defined by Sigmund Freud. Psychology is important to have some understanding of, because it gives you an insight into how things happen and why people think a certain way. Although on the other hand can we really get into someone’s head? Is it not a bit patronising considering all the individual differences... and what if there is something in our heads that doesn't need to be uncovered? Could it do more damage than harm? I think that this self examination could have been the beginning of learning how to effectively know how to market things for people to buy.. by knowing what they wanted, and to an extent how they thought.

Postmodernism was described as “a reflection of... the present wave of political reaction sweeping the western world” - Got 1986

Postmodernism is more about style than substance as long as it looks good, then it is good.

 is all about the present and there’s no depth to it, people are obsessed with their own opinions and glorify insults it’s all about making a point. It’s an attack on the grand narrative, things no longer need to begin at the beginning they can start at the end and work backwards in a non linear narrative. This is happening more and more nowadays for example films such as pulp fiction don’t start at the beginning. Also in everyday life it constantly happens for example on the internet, people can go onto one page but then click a link which takes them to another page, they may or may not return to the first page. Also changing the channel creates a story but it has no meaningful narrative, you just see the pictures for a short period of time and they have no depth to them.

Postmodernism is about understanding what you’re doing – about taking aspects of the past and making a point of them. Knowing what they mean and making a different statement. Minimalism plays a big part in postmodernism. It’s all about cutting things back. “Less is always more” – the better designs now, are usually the simplest. Intertextuality and a feeling of “anything goes” is all part of postmodernism. It doesn’t need to be related, you can take parts from everywhere and add them as you please.

To conclude, modernism is minimal and uses materials for what they do. Postmodernism is a rebellion against the “rules” made in the modernism period and believes in expression. While I was researching I found this wee table that illustrates the main differences between Modernism and Postmodernism.