Have you ever stopped and pondered the instinctive attraction we modernists have for modern design? The modernist is, almost by definition, an iconoclast who appreciates the newness of innovation and the vitality of inspiration. In the au courant, there exists the hope of vigor that transcends the monotony and datedness of the commonplace. Traditional styles and motifs, seen as inbred through endless repetition, seem unfit for survival on an evolving planet. The best modern design meets society's culture-driven problems with new functionality that transcends mere solution. Such creations possess a synergy of aesthetic, quality, and function that invigorates the time-unbound soul.
Traditional themes, in contrast, are anticipated, historical answers to past problems. For the modernist, these once new ideas have now grown old. The truth is, not just old, but often weary, hackneyed, and dreary. Inasmuch as fads fade, contemporary design that lacks timeless virtue is pigeonholed as just another period style. Yet, some ancient shapes and themes possess an élan vital that makes them invincibly at home with today's fresh, new designs.
What makes certain ancient Chinese ceramics feel modern? Why do some primitive design motifs possess this same sense of contemporaneity? What is the essence of timeless modernity? An object, forever modern, is an honest expression of form and decoration that exudes a serene confidence grounded in natural simplicity. Shapes are often underived, basic geometries or freeform, congruent with primordial structures in the physical and organic world. Decorations may be solid or textured colors, energizing dimensionality or dramatizing contour. They may also be thematic: abstract or stylized, the best motifs go beyond detailing the obvious, by exploring hidden undercurrents of truth.
The modernist gravitates toward timeless modern design, drawn by an aesthetic that is irresistibly siren. Still, what is this field of attraction, this sweet song that calls to the modernist, pulse quickened and neurons ablaze? To answer this question, one must go beyond exterior surfaces and explore inner psychological mechanisms.
All people are born, precariously, into an impossibly dangerous world that threatens physicality from the very first day. Without the love and security of those around us, we would be unable to survive. As children, we are taught a constellation of concepts that makes sense out of chaos, yielding safety and comfort. We learn to exist and coexist, successfully and brilliantly. Our adopted concepts are subconsciously deified through generational inculcations and experiential pragmatism. Various traditions are reborn, like original sin, within each of us. Very early in childhood, our existential "being" loses its observationally omnipotence as yet another 'self' emerges from the meld of our memories and perspectives with the world's. This ego, once birthed, becomes trapped within its own box of ideas: preconceptions are born.
Traditions, formed from networks of egoic preconception, provide a measure of mental comfort and security. The discerning individual, perhaps by way of closer ties to the ontological or through the tradition of inquiry, questions the validity of time-honored assumptions. Under scrutiny, traditions may be seen as out-dated, limiting, suffocating, or even fallacious.
The acceptance of modern involves societal and psychological risk. The modernist is typically maverick, possessing the courage to vision beyond universally accepted answers and enter new, uncharted realms. Safety in convention is left behind. Iconoclasm emerges, not for the sake of breaking rules, but in deference to the higher calling of functionality, innovation, and aesthetic. Truth trumps tradition.
Objects, fashioned by the masterful hand of the intuitive modern spirit, possess an aura that expands the boundaries of the known design universe. For the modernist, anything less is viewed as over-ripe and effete, lacking the dynamism inherent in every moment. While traditionalists remain secure and comforted in a frozen past, modernists resonate with the epiphany of now. It is not surprising, then, to discover that modernists are often free, reflective spirits, not averse to taking the less traveled road in the pursuit of Truth and Beauty. While they may or may not be conscious of this meaningful congruency, their lives often mirror the principles found at the heart of their aesthetic passion.
Michael Pratt
