Sunday 12 August 2007

Inspiration: Spot color and B/W photos

Another nice layout by Le Corbusier. Simple, bold, lovely.
I gotta tell though that I've got a love-and-hate relationship with modernism. They taught (as far as I know) that only what's functional can be beautiful, and that the curves, leaves and other decorative shapes of former times were not functional and thus were to be avoided in favor of straight lines, squares and angular shapes. This principle is not true. Functionality and beauty are not synonymous. Function and beauty CAN and SHOULD walk hand in hand but there's no such relationship between the two. A functional thing might just as well be beautiful as disgusting. And a thing that has no function might as well be beautiful as ugly. A beautiful thing that cannot be used although it should, is no good. A beautiful type that cannot be read although it should, is no use. What I think is that Modernism lay down such principles because they wanted so much to break with the past. I don't think they always lived what they preached.
So all in all, I hate Modernism, and I love it.

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