Ettore Sottsass, Sottsass' Tahiti Lamp (1981)

Sottsass' Tahiti Lamp 1981

Content:

I would describe this piece as unusual, abstract and intriguing. It is of a lamp which has been created differently than the common lamps at the time. This piece is imagined, as it what a lamp would commonly look like and has imagined features and bold colours. Sottsass has tried to achieve an abstract and uncommon piece of furniture, to break away from the rigid standards of furniture in the 1980's. This piece is abstracted to give an abnormal effect on the viewer and at the time, would have opened people up to different perspectives of how art and sculpture/furniture could be. 

Formal Elements:

Sottsass has used very simple shapes along with light and bright colours to create a simple yet creative and bold statement piece towards the Memphis group. In this lamp, Sottsass' 'Bacterio' pattern is used on the base, which is a confetti-like pattern that he designed in 1978. This piece has been arranged to look similar to a lamp, however, also look very different from a normal lamp and to have more decorative qualities than functional. The lamp is a build up of contrasts as it has contrasting colours and shapes together. All the colours have equal significance, however, the pattern stands out the most as the rest are single, simple blocked colours. The piece has a few textures as it is made from wood with a plastic laminate cover on it, and the pattern used creates a textured look and effect. 

Process:

The lamp was made from wood with plastic laminate over the top. Sottsass would have cut shapes out of the wood and created a composition. This piece would have been made quickly as it is a factory produced piece, created in mass production. In this piece a skill in sculpture and creative thinking is clearly expressed.

Mood/Meaning:

Sottsass' lamp gives a happy feeling due to the brighter colours and unique shapes. 

Ettore Sottsass, The Carlton (1981)

The Carlton, 1981

Content:

I would describe this piece as bold, unique and colourful. The piece is an abstract room divider by Ettore Sottsass. The subject of this piece is imagined, as it is very different to any other furniture from the time and is specifically produced within the Memphis movement. I think that Sottsass has tried to break away from the common idea of 'good taste' and create a more decorative piece of furniture rather than purely functional. Sottsass' room divider is very abstracted and exaggerated, this gives the effect of how times are changing and that furniture doesn't have to be totally functional. 

Formal Elements:

Sottsass has used graphic shapes and bright bold colours in the room divider. The way the piece is designed and arranged takes away functionality from the furniture and makes it more about the appearance and change in fashion. It has a bright colour scheme of primary and secondary colours throughout. The piece is also a build up of contrasts, as the colours and shapes throughout are all contrasting against each other to create a very bold statement piece. The lighting in this picture of the piece is central and from above, this makes sure you can clearly see the composition and colours in the room divider. All the colours have an equal significance in this piece as it is meant to be bold and contain many colours as it's from the 1980s and around this time the colours and disco was around. This meant that this was the right time for a piece like this, the start of change. There are recurring shapes throughout, in the angled shelves, because its a very graphic style and symmetrical. 

Process:

The room divider is made up of wood with coloured plastic laminate covered on it, this makes it all the same texture. Sottsass would have started with the wooden pieces, covered them in coloured plastic laminate and stuck each piece together in a specific graphic pattern. This piece was made quickly as is was produced in a factory and mass produced. Sottsass clearly shows his design skills and skills with sculpture in this piece. 

Mood/Meaning:

This piece evokes a happy mood as the colours are very bright and cheerful, like the time period of the 80s, and hows a clear influence by pop art and 1950's Kitsch. The purpose of Sottsass' piece is to break away from the rigid idea of furniture being made for function only and to be made of basic expensive materials e.g. leather, plain wood. It was imagined and created by himself and the Memphis group. It has a lasting impression as it was the start of something new at the time and is very different from what furniture would've been like before this. Sottsass conveys meaning through his piece, by using wood and plastic laminate to create it, as this shows that furniture can still be made cheaply and more decoratively than for just the function, yet be just as liked and appreciated eventually. 

Influence:

It was a clear break in fashion and worked well with the introduction of disco, punk and fashion alike in the 80s. This piece is very unique and in my opinion, as a viewer, gives room to show how the fashions can change through time. At the time this piece impacted the way people saw furniture, however, because it was so drastically different some people were with it, others against it. 

"You were either for it, or against it. "All the boring old designers hated it. The rest of us loved it," said Bill Moggridge, co-founder of the IDEO industrial design group.

Vico Magistretti said, "This furniture offers no possibility of development whatsoever,"  and "It is only a variant of fashion.“

To create and develop a piece inspired by Sottsass, we could take forward the bold colours and graphic designs and add them to different common items from the time now, this could be furniture, like the original pieces, or modern items such as phone cases or laptops etc. 

Memphis Group Research

Memphis Group Research

Memphis group work is typically pastel and punchy colours in furniture design. The furniture is typically made with wood and plastic laminate, it uses unusual shapes and colours, quite graphic, angular and abstract. All Memphis group pieces have the colours in common and the fact that they are breaking away from the idea of furniture and functionality.It is clearly grouped together because of the similarities between the pieces and that they are by the same group of people and ideas. I would describe Memphis pieces as abstract and bold, to make a statement. The Memphis group originates from Italy and is a Milan-based movement. It was created to break away from the norm and create a decorative look to furniture, rather than to be used for the function only. The pieces consist of graphic shapes, bold pastel like colours and aren’t as functional as common furniture, but this is a key feature in this movement as it tends to be more decorative instead. The artists where mostly inspired by Art Deco, 1950s Kitsch and Pop Art. The main artist in this movement was Ettore Sottsass, one of Italy’s architectural grandees, who formed the group by meeting with the rest of the artists, all younger than him, in their 20s at the time. These were Martine Bedin, Aldo Cibic, Michele De Lucchi, Matteo Thun and Marco Zanini. All these artists are from Italy at the time.

The Memphis groups pieces were made in the 80s, from 1981 – 1987. As these artists are working, around them society is changing and music is become more diverse and different, this opens up opportunities for them to change the way furniture is seen too a more decorative and modern object.  

Roy Lichtenstein - Favourite analysed

In the Car 

Content:

I would describe the piece as bold, intricate and vibrant. This piece is a large scale recreation from a comic in September 1961 in an issue of Girls’ Romances. It contains imagery of a woman and a man in a car. The subject is directly observed from the comic. I think Lichtenstein tried to achieve a clearer view of the original image. Lichtenstein “reorganised the original composition of the contoured image”. I think that this piece is representational and makes the audience wonder what’s going on and would give intrigue towards the original comic.

Formal Elements:

Lichtenstein has used depth of line as the black lines are different width to give emphasis and definition to certain parts of the piece. He has also used Ben Day dots which add a lot of detail to the piece and texture too. The image has been arranged as a recreation of an older comic. The colour scheme used is very bold and vibrant, which hooks the audience and intrigues then to the piece. At the time, the audience wouldn’t have seen something of this size and detail hand painted. It is a piece built up of contrasts as the colours are quite harsh and bold only separated by black line work. The main colours are yellow, blue and red. There are recurring shapes in the Ben Day dots throughout the skin.

Process:

The piece has a variety of textures given with the addition of shapes and line work. Lichtenstein uses Ben Day dots in his pieces, clearly referencing the common printing technique to show pale colouring in skin tones etc... First Lichtenstein would have drawn out the image, referencing comics from the time and then painted in a way that replicated the mass production style of printing. Compared to the comics from the time, this piece would have been evolved over a period of time, because its a single piece painted and very large scale. From this piece, its clearly shown that Lichtenstein is a skilled artist and painter. 

TATE TRIP // Roy Lichtenstein

The Roy Lichtenstein exhibition in the TATE gallery was about the pop art movement and “reacting against the dominant American abstract expressionist style of painting”. There were many of Lichtenstein’s pieces in the exhibition such as, In the Car 1963, Whaam! and Modern Art ll 1996. Over time, Lichtenstein’s works become more and more abstracted and different than his previous pieces as they become his own and not recreations of other peoples’ comics and imagery. From seeing the pieces up close, I noticed that they are a much bigger scale than you would expect, also that on a computer screen you see the colours but not necessarily the detail in which each piece is constructed. However, from seeing then up close, you can clearly see the detail and how large the images are, some even have pencil mark from where it has been originally sketched. 

I selected both the pieces, In the Car and Modern Art ll as my favourites. From ‘In the Car’ I observed how much detail had been added to the large piece, the Ben Day dots can clearly be seen which shows his talent clearly, which isn’t something you can observe through a screen. From ‘Modern Art ll’ I observed how his works evolved over time and how all the elements of his older work were still incorporated, however, it was more specifically his own work inspired by Pablo Picasso’s cubism, still including his style with Ben Day dots and comic styled focuses e.g. features. 

Pop Art Final Shoot

For this shoot, we focused on mental problems people may face and addiction. We did a series of pop art themed images including drugs, alcohol and mental health. For each of the images, we used makeup to create a pop art look and edited in Photoshop using text to make them like comic strips. We have communicated meaning throughout this series by using expression such as tears and including props such as pills and alcohol to clearly show the problems throughout. We also used text, which links to pop art from the time, as it came from comics. This would attract a younger audience, as it is more modern than the original pieces, and revolves around problems from this time, rather than original comics. It also is more real due to the photography rather than drawing or painting, this also brings the images we created more modern. 

Pop Art Planning

In my final shoot i'm going to produce 2 images to show a story of fake-ness over the internet, using snapchat filters to change the models appearance. In one image I will have the model part natural and part doing makeup, this will show how the appearance is changed in person and the second image will show how the appearance is further changed using fake filters for social media.