Talking Modernism

" Come tour the future with General Motors! A transcontinental flight over America in 1960! What will we see? What changes will transpire? "Conclusion of a 2-part series on Streamline moderne,  In this episode I'll discuss why  it took particular root in Depression-era America, and also discuss how the critics viewed modern art in the 1930s.Photo credit: Wes MagyarTo explore future:Book,   Bush, "The Streamlined Decade", George Braziller Inc, 1075Pictures of the Hoover Model 150 by  Henry DreyfussPictures of the Oriole gas stove by Norman Bel GeddesPicture of the Electrolux Model 30 by Lurelle Van ArsdaleGood article on Norman Bel Geddes' mechanical horse race and his War GameOriginal color documentary by General Motors on the 1939 Futurama exhibit.  Ride footage commences at minute 8:00Good brief video summarising Norman Bel Geddes' careerCatalogue of 1934 MOMA exhibition "Machine Art"Book, Marshall, "Machine Art 1934", University of Chicago Press, 2012MOMA diagram shown progression of modern art 1890-1935

 “The airplane is the symbol of the new age .  A new state of modern conscience. A new plastic vision. A new aesthetic. "Welcome back to the second season of Talking Modernism, and the first of a 2-part series on Streamline Moderne, the style that is so evocative of Depression era  America.  In this episode I'll be talking about the glamorous world of train travel in the 1930s, and the ground-breaking Pioneer Zephyr,  the first of the streamliner trains.To explore further :Wikipedia on Pioneer Zephyr Book Shafer& Welsh, "Streamliners - History of a Railroad Icon", MBI Publishing, 1997Article on the economics of rail travel in America Article on railway dining Wikipedia on the Shienenzeppelin Article on the Fliegender Hamburger trainFilm of the 1938 20th Century Limited:  the most beautiful train ever made? Photos of Mossehaus by Erich MendelsohnArticle on the Universum Cinema, also by Mendelsohn PDF copy of Aircraft  by Le Corbusier, 19351934 film The Silver Streak 

"I know it when I see it”Final in a 3-part series on the 1925 Paris exposition and the Art Deco style.  In this episode I explore the origins of the Art Deco style, especially its roots in avant-garde art.  Plus the role of the forgotten giant of fashion Paul Poiret in packaging the avant-garde for the mass market.To explore future:High-level overview of avant-garde art Article on Antonio Sant'Ella 1910 Futurist building designsUnesco site, Centennial Hall, 1913, WroclawVideo of Grosse Schauspielhaus , 1919 BerlinArticle on 1914 Deutsche Werkbund exhibition, CologneColour video reconstruction of the Glass Pavilion, 1914 Deutsche Werkbund expoArticle on Paul PoiretArticle on Corbusier's Pavillion de l"esprit Nouveau, 1925World Heritage site on Corbusier's Cité Frugès, 1924Email feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.comPhoto credit:  Ambassador study-library, designed by Pierre Chareau, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris

"The first impression of the Exhibition is startling. Passing through the silver obelisk-like towers of the Port d’Honneur, one comes at once upon a cubist dream city, or the projection of a possible city in Mars, arisen overnight in the heart of Paris. "Second in a 3-part series on the 1925 Paris exposition, the "Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Moderne", that sparked a world-wide explosion of the glamorous and much-loved Art Deco style.   In this episode I discuss how Paris battled to regain its position as style leader of the Western world against the challenge of foreign innovators such as the Deutsche Werkbund, culminating in the 1925 Paris Exposition.To explore further:Article on the Thonet Number 14 chairArticle on the Deutsche WerkbundArticle on Peter Brehens, one of the founders of the WerkbundArticle on the AEG Turbine Hall, one the pioneers of modern factory designArticle of the 1910 Salon d'AutomneMore photos of the Deutsche Werkbund exhibits at the 1910 Salon d'AutomneJean Metzinger's Cubist painting Nu a la chemineeComprehensive article by Arthur Chandler on the 1925 Paris ExhibitionPhotos of the 1925 Paris ExhibitionFilm "Paris a Cinq Jours", ("Paris in 5 Days"), silent comedy from 1925.  Contains actual footage of the 195 Paris expo at 40.49 minute markEmail feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.comPhoto credit:  Thonet Number 14 Chair, thonet.com.au/products/no-14-vienna/

"Paris is the world, the rest of the earth nothing but its suburbs"First in a 3-part series on the 1925 Paris exposition, the "Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Moderne", that sparked a world-wide explosion of the glamorous and much-loved Art Deco style.   In this episode I discuss the genesis of Paris' position as the fashion capital of the world, and also explore early responses of decorative art and design to the challenge of modernity. To explore further:Article How King Louis IV invented fashion as we know itBook "Empire of Things", Frank TrentmanArticle Great Exhibition 1851Article  Crystal Palace, with photosArticle "The Gallery of False Principles" exhibition, 1852Article Arts & Crafts movementArticle Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School of ArtsArticle British "Modern" styleExcellent article by Arthur Chandler on 1900 Paris ExpoFilm of the 1900 Paris ExpoArticle on Art NouveauEmail feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.comPhoto credit:  Crystal Palace relocated to Sydenham, Historic England Archive FF91/00334

"From the froth of a wave and a cloud I built myself a white city"Second in a 2-part series on Tel Aviv's "White City", the world's largest collection of modernist-style architecture.   I discuss how in the 1930s a radical architecture style largely developed in Northern Europe took hold in a new city on the shores of the Mediterranean.To explore further:UNESCO world heritage listing of the White CityWikipedia  on the Dreyfuss Affair History of AliyahsThe Balfour DeclarationThe Geddes PlanDetailed article about the Ha'avarah agreementWikipedia on functionalist architecture.  Interestingly it doesn't mention Tel Aviv1936 Punch cartoon on functionalist architecture- Do tell me you loathe it!Email feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.comPhoto credit:  Bialik House, 1925 The Times of Tel Aviv

"On or about December 1910 human nature changed.   All human relations shifted, and when human relations change there is at the same time a change in religion, conduct, politics, and literature.”Final of a 3-part series based on the book "Rites of Spring:  The Great War and the Birth of the  Modern Age" by Modris Ekstiens,  about the evolution of the modernist spirit in Western Europe.  This episode explores how the modernist spirit developed through the optimism and relaxing of social norms of the "Roaring 20s", through to its final perverted expression in Fascism and Nazism.To explore further:Book overview of 1930s The Dark Valley Film clip Dinosaur sequence in Fantasia (1940)Wikipedia on Italian futurist poet Filippo Tommaso MarinettiBook Postliberal Politics: The Coming Era of RenewalEmail feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.comPhoto credit:  Charles Lindbergh, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

"Now all roads lead to France; And heavy is the treadOf the living; but the dead; Returning lightly dance"Second of a 3-part series based on the book "Rites of Spring:  The Great War and the Birth of the  Modern Age" by Modris Ekstiens,  about the evolution of the modernist spirit in Western Europe.  This episode explores how the slaughter of WW1 and continued disruption after the war eroded the values of the Victorian age and hastened the adoption of aspects of modernismTo explore further:Photo of Adolph Hitler cheering start of WW1Exhibition of modernist war artistsBook The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to EndEmail feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.comPhoto credit:  Paul Nash, Menin Road 1918, Imperial War Museum

"If I had known they'd talk about nothing else I never would have designed that damn kitchen"In this episode we discuss the Frankfurt kitchen the first mass-produced fitted kitchen.   Designed in 1926 by the amazing and brilliant Greta Schutte-Lihotzky, we'll also discuss functionalist design, the birth of public housing and the idea of "wicked problems"To explore further:Description of the Frankfurt kitchen hereVideo of "Kitchen Dance" hereVideo of Robert Rotifer's song "The Frankfurt Kitchen" hereInstructional film from 1926 showing the Frankfurt kitchen in use here“The Secret History of Home Economics” by Danielle Dreilinger, hereArticle on Red Vienna's housing program hereArticle on Greta Schutte-Lihodzky hereArticle on Ernst May and the New Frankfurt program hereWikipedia article on Futura typeface hereWikipedia article on Bauhaus hereArticle on gesamtkunstverk hereArticle on Casa Batlo hereRittle & Webber's 1973 paper "Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning" hereEmail feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.comPhoto credit Wikimedia commons Christos Vittoratos

"Attempting to stand outside of time, the house neither aged nor weathered: it merely cracked and deteriorated"Welcome to the first episode of the new series "Talking Modernism".  In this episode we'll be exploring what exactly modernism is through one of its iconic buildings, the Villa Savoye.Useful links, in case you want to investigate further:Photo study of Villa SavoyeWikpedia on Le CorbusierWikipedia on "Towards a New Architecture"Malcolm Gladwell's podcast Revisionist HistoryEmail feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.comPhoto credit Rory Hyde - https://www.flickr.com/photos/roryrory/2520028487, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=92939219

Second in a 2-part series on Tel Aviv's "White City", the world's largest collection of modernist-style architecture.   In this episode I discuss the growth, decline and rediscovery of the White City.  I also discuss the contrasting work of Expressionist architect Erich Mendelsohn To explore further:Newsreels of Tel Aviv, including the White City periodWikipedia on Levant Fair 1932Engel House, White CityRubinsky House, White CityDizengoff Square, White CityPlan for Alexanderplatz, Berlin, Mies van der Rohe, 1928Book White City, Black City, Sharon Rotbard,2005/2015Article on German Expressionist architectureEinstein Tower, BerlinWeizmann Villa, RehovotBook Seizing Jerusalem - The Architectures of Unilateral Unification, Prof Alana Nitzan-Shiftan, 2017Email feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.com

"The most discordant composition ever written.  Never has the cult of the wrong note been applied with such industry, zeal, and ferocity"First of a 3-part series based on the book "Rites of Spring:  The Great War and the Birth of the  Modern Age" by Modris Ekstiens,  about the evolution of the modernist spirit in Western Europe.  In this episode I discuss the tumultuous 1913 premiere of the ballet "The Rite of Spring",  plus the growth of modernistic Germany prior to WW1.To explore further:Article about the scandalous sculptures on Sydney's GPO 1884 Wikipedia article on "The Rite of Spring" balletVideo of the 2013 centenary performance of The Rite of Spring Oldest recording of the Rite of SpringArticle by Graham T Allison on the Thucydides Trap.Email feedback and suggestions to talkingmodernism@gmail.comPhoto credit:  Joffrey ballet 2013 production of The Rite of Spring, NPR