History & Practice Session 7: Modernism

'Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?" - Richard Hamilton, 1956

In 1956, an exhibition called 'This is Tomorrow' took place in London, featuring a host of post-wartime British artwork. As time headed into the realms of modernism, the exhibition was considered the kickstarter for British pop art.

Richard Hamilton was a contributing artist in the exhibition with his famous collage 'Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?'

The collage became a pop art icon depicting the rising consumerism as the 1950s progressed into a more modern age. In his own words, Hamilton aimed to "fill a cramped space with a representation of all the objects and ideas crowding post-war consciousness". Indeed, the collage depicts many developing ideas of the 1950s - the advancement of science and space exploration (the moon on the ceiling), new ventures in household appliances and foods, cars and technology, new 'standards' for the male and female body... Effectively, 1956 in a nutshell.

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'Just What Is It That Makes 2020 So Different, So Depressing?" - Me, 2020

Our blog task for this session required us to create our own version of Hamilton's collage, depicting the ideology and gist of 2020. Unfortunately, as we all know, this year has not been one for focusing on scarce positives.

Instead of welcoming new innovation and promising  advancements, 2020 has welcomed a global pandemic, a

painfully orange dictator, and panic amongst those of us who have the sense to see the dire importance of climate change. In my opinion, these were the main themes of 2020, and thus inspired my attempt.

​Firstly, I chose a living room scene for the background - since lockdown confined most of us to this room for much of the year, I thought it was an appropriate starting point. I went on to include the issue of global warming by making the melting ice caps and wildfires visible through the window - I chose to combine ice and fire because they are two of the most prominent images the term "global warming" brings to mind.

To the left of the collage I focused more on the Covid-19 pandemic, and the new ways of living we have had to adapt to. I combined some defining factors into one image - a man in a business suit (referring to working from home) sat atop a throne of toilet roll and pizza boxes (referring to panic buying and increased takeaway orders), wearing a facemask and being rained on by hand sanitizer (pretty self explanatory). I tried to make it as bizarre as possible to reflect the surreal oddness of the times we now live in.

To the right, I focused more on the political highlights of the year. I had to include Boris at the top, hanging from his zipwire in probably the single most infamous picture of him in existence. The image itself automatically gives off a sense of absurdity and incompetence, in turn referencing nationwide doubt of Johnson's abilities to lead, especially in crisis. Below Johnson, I have included Donald Trump below the Nazi swastika, since his deplorable actions during his presidential term have led many to compare him to the dictator Adolf Hitler. I added devil horns to highlight the worldwide threat this man poses - the danger of his choices and actions exceeds the borders of his own country, impacting the entire globe. The bleach was added just as a reminder of the stunningly bad ideas of our so-called world leaders - reading deeper into this, one could question the very direction humanity is heading in if we are willingly electing people like this to lead us into the future.