Historical Influences
Countercultural Intersections: Indian Imagery on Psychedelic Graphic Design of the Late 1960s View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Juliana F. Duque
This paper analyzes the role of cultural interchanges on psychedelic graphic design from the late 1960s, comparing it to that of appropriation of imagery occurred in the same context. The boundaries between multicultural flows and the appropriation of graphic elements in psychedelic graphic design are sometimes faded. Nonetheless, both terms reflect an action that carries visual and methodological consequences. In the countercultural phenomenon and in the psychedelic landscape in particular, the Indian ethos appears to be a point of intersection between these two practices. For this, the paper analyzes samples of psychedelic graphic design from 1966-69 – in which Indian imagery is predominant – to assess the role of multiculturalism and appropriation in the design process. The West looked at India as a path to transcendence, or a spiritual inducement to achieve higher states of mind. As a consequence, Indian elements, from religious figures to hallucinatory patterns, were soon introduced to counterculture. Although the first influences appear to have come from music and meditation practices, graphic design, as a ubiquitous visual manifestation, rapidly absorbed, returned, and transformed those inputs. The result came throughout psychedelic record covers, press, and posters either in the United States and the United Kingdom. Posters such as Tantric Lovers (1967), from the Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, or Victor Moscoso’s Quicksilver Messenger Service, John Lee Hooker, and The Miller Blues Band (1967) manifest the dynamics and tension between multiculturalism and appropriation that would change the praxis of countercultural graphic design.
Finding Common Approaches in Creating Forms and Methods in Solving Architectural Problems in Constructivism and Postmodernism
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Valentin Grukhin
The beginning of the twentieth century passed under the slogans of the ideas of revolutionary and architects as Tatlin, Leonidov, Ginzburg, Melnikov, the Vesnin brothers, Chernikhov, and others, who developed the concept of constructivism. Constructivism, which appeared on the fragments of the Russian Empire after the October Revolution and grew up in the cradle of the Russian avant-garde ideas, became widespread throughout the world and they are an international heritage that inspires architects to this day for freedom and fearlessness. Concepts developed by constructivists influenced future generations of the stars of world architecture: Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas. The end of the twentieth century ended up in the postmodern, a trend in architecture that received worldwide distribution. Postmodern originated in the environment of vernacular commercial and residential development in the USA. It won the global distribution, became the sublimation of all the styles and approaches of the past. Being Russian and having lived in the USA for some time, it seems to be interesting to compare the beginning and end of the development of the architectural ideas of this century. The purpose of this work is to analyze and find similarities and differences in the architectural approach between constructivism and postmodernism styles by comparing the masterpieces of both styles. I am inclined to believe that this study will be useful for designers and architects interested in the history of architecture. It will help to reveal the essential similarity between these styles and reveal the transformation of the main design elements.
Chicago Design Milestones: Ten Decades of Chicago Design History
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sharon Oiga, Guy Villa Jr, Daria Tsoupikova
Chicago Design Milestones was a public installation that brought to life the evolution of Chicago design by examining and showcasing the historic characteristics of design works from the 1920s to the present. Project material was researched and culled from the collection of the Chicago Design Archive (CDA), which holds over 3,200 works. The CDA, the UIC School of Design and Electronic Visualization Laboratory, and Columbia College Chicago collaborated on this project, as their underlying and ongoing quest is to spotlight the role of Chicago as a major national design center through the use of innovative technologies. A significant challenge was finding how to represent the thousands of works from the past 100 years. This was done by scouring every image, over countless hours, and selecting representative works for each decade. Another challenge was finding how to best employ the distinctive installation structure of 150 MediaStream, comprised of 89 LED vertical blades reaching 22 feet high and spanning 150 feet wide—a vertical pattern combined with massive horizontality—interesting but opposing dynamics. Chicago design history is not commonly brought to the attention of the general public. The project offered it outside of the confines and prompting of a book, classroom or school, and it was instead framed in the context of an immersive technological experience. The aim was to engage onlookers and inspire them with the city’s creative history. Perhaps they felt a sense of nostalgia, a feeling of pride for the city, or gained a stronger appreciation for Chicago history and design.
