Six weeks ago I was working on the Red House, home of
William Morris and a response to the Industrial Revolution which was turning
life inside out across Europe.
Since then I have upgraded the models of two Modernist buildings from the
1930s, attempts to embrace the new technologies and the social transformations
that came with them. Links to ideologies well to the left and right.
Artistically they represent attempts to sweep everything away and start afresh,
repeating cycles of innovation and disruption. Looking back we can see the
beginnings of the art scene of today, where conceptual statements and shock
value have largely replaced the search for beauty. Shock value trumps gradual
evolution of traditions that stretch back hundreds of years.
To be clear, I am not pointing the finger or suggesting I know “the
solution”. Seems to me it’s just a feature of the pace of change in society
and technology, the dominance of consumerism and fashion.
I don’t have the answers but I…