History of Design: Modernism

I Study the active vocabulary and focus on Ukrainian equivalents of English words.

stoke підтримувати вогонь

traumatized травмований

reinterpret переосмислити

virtually практично

creative expression творче вираження

light світло

blow away вражати

emerging що з’являється

concrete бетон

feature характеризувати

 heavily сильно

ornamental декоративний

indulgence  потурання

frivolous легковажний

waste  марнотратство

effort зусилля

mankind людство

intelligence кмітливість

capability здібності

celebrate прославляти

suggest пропонувати

hold aloft тримати на височині

electrical current електричний струм

barely enough ледь достатній

voltage напруга

resounding вражаючий

housewares предмети домашнього вжитку

aesthetics естетика

II Vocabulary focus. Study the words and  word combinations, check your understanding using flashcards, practise their translation, spelling. Check your knowledge in the test. Play matching vocabulary game (match words to their translations to make cards disappear)  and save the planet from asteroids by typing in correct translation of the words.

  

III Watch the video and fill in the gaps in the text.

In the early 20th 1)______ the war to end all wars didn’t end 2)______ at all. It stoked the fires of 3)______. A traumatized world was right for 4)______, the world was ready for 5)______.

 Modernists wanted to forget 6)______ or at least reinterpret it. More than just a 7)______, modernism applied to virtually all forms of 8)______ expression. Innovative artists like 9)______, Escher, Dali, they all started looking at their world 10)______. Other artists tried painting light itself. These were the 11)______. Surrealists went a bit further. We had entered the age of the –isms: Cubism, 12)______, Futurism, Constructivism. All these new 13)______ ways of looking at the world blew 14)______ away. When it came to 15)______, modernists were intrigued by emerging 16)______. Concrete, 17)______, and steel featured heavily in their 18)______. Modernists believed that they could design a better 19)______. 20)______ indulgence was considered a frivolous 21)______ of effort. They thought 22)______ should always 23)______ form. And that mankind’s 24)______, creativity, and capability for radical thinking should be 25)______. Take the Russian inventor Georgii Krutikov. He suggested an 26)______ for a city held aloft by electrical currents. This at a 27)______ when there was barely enough voltage to keep the 28)______ on.

Not everything they 29)______ was a resounding 30)______, but you could argue modernism was a single most 31)______ movement of the 20th century. From house music to 32)______, tables and chairs to 33)______ design, all have been created by the 34)______ and ideas of 35)______. Do you buy into modernism?  

IV Watch all the parts of the video and answer the questions.

1When did Modernism emerge as a movement in art and design? What historical events were connected to that trend?

2 What forms of creative expression did modernism apply to?

3 What artists represented that trend (name several artists mentioned in the video)?

4 What other trends followed modernism? What special features did those trends have?

5 What principles did modernism use?

6 What did some modernist inventors suggest? Were their ideas always successful? Why or why not?

7 How did modernism influence architecture?

8 Where can the influence of modernism be found in modern world?