Art Nouveau (c.1880 to 1910)

Art nouveau could be said to be the first 20th century modern style. It was the first style to stop looking backwards in history for ideas, taking inspiration instead from what it saw around it, in particular the natural world.

(At:http://www.bbc.co.uk/homes/design/period_artnouveau.shtml)

Although our stylistic brief for our sets is constructivism and expressionism, we also decided to look at art nouveau style pieces of furniture. This was so that we could each individually research and design our chosen pieces of furniture or other aspects of the room which are similar to each other. We found that art nouveau was quite popular in the time our story is set, and is a less broad topic so all the aspects should look similar when put together, yet leave an impression of constructivism and expressionism.

This resembles the creative ideas the group spoke of when imagining what the sets will look like, including pale colouring, such as pinks and greens, curved detailed furniture, floral patterned fabric and walls, and soft furnishings.

Expressionism

Expressionism as a general term refers to art in which the image of reality is more or less heavily distorted in form and colour in order to make it expressive of the artists inner feelings or ideas about it. In expressionist art colour in particular can be highly intense and non-naturalistic, brushwork is typically free and paint application tends to be generous and highly textured. Expressionist art tends to be emotional and sometimes mystical. It can be seen as an extension of Romanticism. It then went on to create abstract expressionism.
Tate Galleries (date unknown) Tate http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=48 (31/03/11)

Fig. 1. Schmidt-Rottluff, Karl (1912) Two Women [Oil on Canvas] At: http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=13179 (Acessed on 31/03/11)

Fig. 2. Kokoschka, Oskar (1910-12) Dr. Fannina W. Halle [Drawing on Paper] At:
http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=7815 (Acessed on 31/03/11)

Fig. 3. Kandinsky, Wassily (1910-11) Cossacks [Oil on canvas] At: http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=8185 (Acessed on 31/03/11)

Constructivism

Constructivism is a particularly austere branch of abstract art founded by Vladimir Tatlin and Alexander Rodchenko in Russia around 1915. The constructivists believed art should directly reflect the modern industrial world. Tatlin was crucially influenced by Picasso's Cubist constructions (Construction 1914) which he saw in Picasso's studio in Paris in 1913. These were three-dimensional still-lifes made of scrap materials. Tatlin began to make his own but they were completely abstract and made of industrial materials. By 1921 Russian artists who followed Tatlin's ideas were calling themselves Constructivists and in 1923 a manifesto was published in their magazine Lef: 'The material formation of the object is to be substituted for its aesthetic combination. The object is to be treated as a whole and thus will be of no discernible 'style' but simply a product of an industrial order like a car, an aeroplane and such like. Constructivism is a purely technical mastery and organisation of materials.' Constructivism was suppressed in Russia in the 1920s but was brought to the West by Naum Gabo and his brother Antoine Pevsner and has been a major influence on modern sculpture.

Tate Galleries (Date unknown) Tate http://www.tate.org.uk/collections/glossary/definition.jsp?entryId=75 (Acessed 8/04/11)

Fig. 1. Pevsner, Antione (c. 1923-24) Head [Plastic] At: http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=11530 (Acessed on 31/03/11)

Fig. 2. Gabo, Naum (c. 1920) Column [Cellulose nitrate] At:

http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=4836 (Acessed on 31/03/11)

Fig. 3. Gabo, Naum (c. 1917) Constructed Torso [Cardboard] At:

http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=21293 (Acessed on 31/03/11)

Foam board Model

Today with the help of Henry Jones, we created a model scale of our set. We used white foam board and created miniature versions of our chosen furniture to see how the room would look. This gave us a chance to see how the furniture would fit in both rooms and where we could position them., without obstructing doors or windows. This also got us started thinking about where our light sources would be to create the greatest effect in each of the rooms.
After building the model, we were told we could enlarge our sets if we wanted. After a group discussion, we decided to increase the size of the living room to 12'x14', and the bedroom to 12'x10' with the end wall 8'. This will give us more room for the furniture to fit in as well as space for us to work in when constructing the sets.

Dining Chairs

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.salvo.co.uk/images/userimgs/33450/Reclaimed-pine-dining-chairs

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.antiquediningchair.co.uk/images/rococo%2520dining%2520chair%25202.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.antiquediningchair.co.uk/rococo_

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.parlourroominteriors.com/Antique_Victorian_Art_Nouveau_Dining_Chairs_files/victorian%2520green%2520chairs%25202.jpg

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nigelnortheast.co.uk/images/oak_dining_chairs.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nigelnortheast.co.uk/portfolio-dining.htm

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.riversidefurniture.co.uk/shoppingcart/product_images/z/french_chair__41088.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.riversidefurniture.co.uk/shoppingcart/products/French-Style-Painted-Rattan-Dining-Chairs.html

Designing

As a group we decided to each have an aspect of the set to individually research and design. Half of the group would be looking at Gregor's room whilst myself and the other half of the group will be looking at the design of the living room. I will be researching into dining chairs to fit the scene of the room, in the period of 1915 and art neuveau. This also means working together with Eleanor who is looking at the designs for the dining table so they have a similar resembelance. Once we research into our chosen area, we will create our own designs and draw up our work to scale on Autocad.

Plans of set

We began planing how our rooms would look and which pieces of furniture would be included. We decided to set the rooms half way through the text, when Gregor has been a bug for some time and the family begin removing the furniture out of his room. This would also be useful when creating the sets as we have less furniture to create and also more room to move around in the set. The rooms will be joined by the double doors mentioned in the text. The living room will be made 12ft x 10ft, yet the bedroom will be 10ft wide and 12ft long but will narrow towards the end of the room making the end wall 7ft long. The furniture we decided to include consist of a four poster bed, writing desk, leather sofa and the chair near the window in Gregor's bedroom. For the living room we will have a dining table and chairs, a fireplace, and an armchair each for Mr and Mrs Samsa. This will also include the military photo of Gregor and the picture of the woman on the wall in Gregor's room. Both rooms will have carpeted floors and wallpaper which will be worn and show evidence of dampness and layers worn away to show the many layers underneath.