To me, Bauhaus was an avant-garde movement. It was influenced by modernism and constructivism, a style or a moment that meant to break the forms and ideas of traditional and classical values. Not only Bauhaus was one of the first institute that accepted black students, the Bauhaus represented the concept of minimalism, theorized on primary colors and shapes, and emphasized on technology and functionalities. These principles pushed the contemporary art and technology into a different realm.
These principles they pioneered have helped tremendously in our design field. Bauhaus ideology is specialized by the economic way of thinking. In interaction design, we have to develop keen mindfulness where we can utilize our resource in the most efficient and economical way, especially when we are constantly prototyping and testing our ideas and products. Furthermore, Bauhaus is all about constant development, which means to have the refreshing attitude to make and to learn new stuff, In design field, new technology means new innovation and vise versa. we are continuously learning about new technologies and discovering new materials everyday, it is important for us to keep push ourselves to be openminded and have the willingness to embrace new things.
After Bauhaus experiments on their website, I found fascinating how everyone has a very different perspective of how color and shape work together. When I checked my result on the color and shape I combined, I didn’t necessarily agree with Kandinsky’s disposition on the theory of color-form. It made me thought about the cognitive term “synesthesia” – a condition where people would associate information with involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway, such as associating colors with different shapes or sounds. To me, I feel like these associations can be subjective. For instance, Kandinsky stated that the red is a very “assertive” and “forceful” color and corresponded with the “inner tension” of the square plane. Personally, if red is perceived as “assertive”, I’d pair it up with a triangle instead of a square. Therefore, I think there are many people who see their world differently than everyone else.
I never thought Bauhaus as an “avant-garde movement”. Great food for thought!
Thank you, the reason I considered it as the avant-garde movement is that it followed the other movements that meant to break the forms and ideas of traditional and classical values. It was the first institute to enroll black students, which is pretty “unusual” and rule-breaking. Plus the emphasizing on pushing technology and art together in 1919 just crazy to me 🙂