European ART Since 1985

Since the first step I took into the High Museum to see the European design since 1985, I had a feeling that the artworks defined post modernism. Many designs seemed like a mixture of many different concept, and in fact the European design since 1985 did compose of different medias including furniture, glass, ceramics, metalworks, etc. However, each artworks were unique and were concentrating on their own media. All the artworks were unique because they were furnitures with their own decorative design, unlike the mundane furnitures we see in homes. These designs, not judged with functional and technological concept, were focused on poetic and artistic area of artworks, which represented the aesthetic and intellectual movement at the time. Some furnitures were composed of simple geometric shapes so that they can be mass produced and be a part of every day life. However, as I took a closer look, there was no pattern that can be found to summarize the artworks, which made each of them unique. The conceptual design had artworks with blur line, which gave each furnitures multiple meanings. The multiple meanings in the artworks gave these designs a feeling of dry intellectual humor. If we compare it to English it would be something like a pun. When I saw these designs I had a feeling that the artists were challenging me with the definition of art. Similar to conceptual design was Neo Dada design, which instead of giving blur line, it displayed ambiguous, random, and irrational forms of furniture designs. I had a feeling that the artworks were getting more and more post modern since I saw Neo Dada design. Another design that I was interested in was Neo Decorative design. These designs emphasized on decorative and aesthetic qualities of design and furnitures. To emphasize on the decorativeness, the furnitures displayed bold colors with patterns. The artworks seemed to be able to decorate all kinds of places, in fact I had hard time imagining anyone sitting on one of the chairs without destroying the decoration.



Philippe Starck (French, b. 1949), Bedside Gun lamp, 2005, Made by FLOS S.p.A. <http://www.high.org/main.taf?p=3,2,1,18,4>