Reading Response 1- E.F

Revisiting the Avant-Garde

Armstrong, Helen. “Introduction: Revisiting the Avant-Garde” Graphic Design Theory: Readings From the Field. Princeton Architectural Press, 2009. Pages 9-15.

Questions / Prompts

• Do you notice similarities between avant-garde movements of the past and the design field (or the world) of today?
• Define These terms and consider in what ways today’s designers participate in, facilitate, or reject:
  • Authorship
  • Universality
  • Social Responsibility
• What idea(s) or concerns do you think will drive the Avant-Garde of the near future?

Response

The “Avant-Garder” art movement is an emotionally based style that challenged political and cultural art trends, always seeking to stay one step ahead. I think as a designer, we are still connected to this art style. Our first thought as artists will always be to explore beyond what we have seen, try to innovate, and differentiate ourselves from the rest, either with a new and personal style or expanding what we have seen before, keeping the message very clear and visually striking.

Authorship is defined as the creator, writer, artist, documentarist, etc. That recognizes that work as their own, either by means of signatures, copyright, names, etc. I would say that today many artists and people who create products or works make public the fact that it belongs to them, either for publicity, to make money, or even to protect themselves from someone else copying or using their work for their own benefit, something, that seems very smart to me.

Universality is a term used to understand the vast range that a person, product, or object has impacted worldwide. It is how far something has come, either totally or within a specific group or place. In a world as competitive as today’s, designers seek to become as universal as possible. This is how they become known and able to reach a better public in broader ranges. The problem is that it is very complicated. Not all artists and designers become known worldwide. In fact, many of them live in anonymity either by choice or because they could not expand.

Social responsibility is a term that refers to the burden, commitment, or obligation of the members of a society either as individuals or as members of a group, both among themselves and for society as a whole. The concept introduces a positive or negative assessment of the impact that a decision has on society. As an artist and designer, I couldn’t say which position to take. On the one hand, social responsibility has helped to create ethical, moral, and logical standards of conduct in our current society. But I think that when it comes to ethics and morality, everything is relative, and if art and designers can improve or reveal problems in society by avoiding or dodging some social responsibilities, I think that is the right thing to do.

It is difficult to know how the concept of Avant-Garde will evolve. But it is clear that if he wants to continue being avant-garde and continue to be present, he must be harder on himself. Today, the world is more sensitive and has affected both art and behavior in society. It is a hard road, everyone wants to say or have an opinion about everything, concepts have become flexible and art is very abstract.