March 29th

Originally, I didn't have a post for this particular class due to the fact that I was absent, but going with the notes I received from others in the class and my own review of found material, this is what I've come up with....




So this class was largely about the Bauhaus, something I didn't know much about, other than the small fact that Dorian's website (beachaus.com) sounds remarkably similar to the school.


So basically, the Bauhaus invented what we consider to be the modern art student, providing for new age thinking and design. 


It lasted from 1919 to 1933, spanning across 3 different locations.
A brief timeline includes:


1919-1925- Weimar (1st location)


1923- First public exhibition


1924- Letter of Resignation


1925- 1932- Dessau (2nd location)


1928- Groupius replaced by Meyer


1930- Meyer replaced by Van der Rohe


1932-1933- Berlin (3rd location)


Walter Gropius- founder and first director of the Bahaus. He introduced the school using a cathedral model- the 3 spires being painting sculpture and architecture together as one, thought these areas should be equally valued, not separated. 


The Bahaus was a place where people put their entire lives, a strong sense of community where people put everything they had into what they were doing and truly believed it meant something. 


Council of Masters-
Gerhard Marks (sculpture/pottery)
Lyonel Feringer (painting)
Johannes Itten (preliminary courses)


Itten- focused on the individual student, attempting to release the creativity of each of the students, not simply follow everyone else, "it wasn't about making the students do what someone else wanted, but what was inside of them," established the preliminary courses, focused on materials as well, developing an understanding of physical materials, classes studied high contrast (soft/hard, round/rigid, light/hard), created work from found objects (rummaging through junkyards and scraps to find forms which could be used), a reflection of the students situation, they didnt need to worry about money and tuition


Itten leaves the Bauhaus in 1923 due to a change in the direction of the school


in 1923, the first exhibition is held, the public was curious as to the goings on of the school and what their money was helping to support, so they were shown, it not only showed the public what was going on there, but provided new inspiration for other artists and designers (such as Jan Tschichold)


Itten replaced by:
László Moholy-Nagy 
very experimental, all about typophoto (unification of all elements- image and type), he sees photography as replacing painting, trying to develop a new "visual language" of sorts with photography, experimented with photograms (playing around with the film as you expose it) creating interesting and unexpected results, the idea was to not worry about the result but just see where the process would take him, used photomontage, collage, assemblage etc. 


Herbert Baehr- created the universal alphabet which did away with capital letterforms
The Bauhaus experimented with typography as well, doing away with serifs, experimenting with contrast, hierarchy, composition, flushed left and ragged right, used bars rules grids and open compositions, strong verticals/ horizontals in compositions


The final move of the school to Berlin was a transition from a nice and modern building in Dessau to a very depressing old building, but things didn't work out, you know, with the whole Nazi thing in Germany


The Bauhaus was a very progressive school all about new directions and Hitler saw the work they produced as degenerate and subversive, and the school was finally pressured to close in 1933


I am truly blown away at the magnitude and importance that this school holds. It was only open for 14 years, yet in that time, it gained worldwide recognition and became a hugely influential design force still recognized today. Comparing our schooling to that of the Bauhaus, I can't imagine having the freedom and curriculum those students were allotted. As art students today, we do follow the same basic principles of core study to learn the basics and fundamentals of art and design, slowly branching out to gain our own direction as we progress each year, but throughout our years at Ringling, I feel we will always be made to follow in the footsteps of those before us, that the level of experimentation and freedom the students of the Bauhaus enjoyed will never be achieved by us. We must always follow the rules, and when we don't, we are penalized for it. However, we have the same spirit, I feel, the same love for what we do, and no matter the obstacles before us, we will continue to produce work and continue to change the world the way we see fit.