what is postmodernism??
- lack of naivete - self awareness in every stylistic choice
- referencing - pulling elements from many other recognisable sources and combining them to make something new
- 'pastiche'
- parody
- irony?
postmodernism is a very broad movement which affected many areas of culture form philosophy to architecture and is notoriously difficult to define
i personally love postmodernist design as it is self aware and often humorous, and shows that the designer has a broad understanding of pop culture, art, and design as a whole. theres a very 'wink wink nudge nudge' element to it - perhaps people like postmodernist design because it makes them feel smart for recognising its references?
postmodernism seems to acknowledge that the world is messy and far from perfect, but instead of taking a defeatist attitude it pokes fun at our modern society
in general, postmodernist design is a rejection of the minimalist 'modernist' design era which preceded it
from the Tate: "Postmodernism can be seen as a reaction against the ideas and values of modernism, as well as a description of the period that followed modernism's dominance in cultural theory and practice in the early and middle decades of the twentieth century. The term is associated with scepticism, irony and philosophical critiques of the concepts of universal truths and objective reality."
examples of postmodernist design:
The Memphis group - Italian based design collective making furniture and homewares in the 80s - their over-the-top use of colour, pattern and form has come to define the aesthetic of the 80s.
"At the time, objects were usually designed to be functional, not decorative. Memphis changed this with a more creative approach to design, where they poked fun at every day objects by designing them in a way that was unusual."
References -
'copying in design, hannah carlisle'
'susan sontag, notes on camp'
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