Dan Friedman--radical modernism

Friedman argues that design is in crisis, searching for a new sense of balance and vision in a period of historic transformation. Throughout the book he emphasizes the responsibility of designers to avoid overspecialization and to see their work as an important creative aspect of a larger cultural context. He also discusses the impact of digital technology on visual art education; the relationship between theory and practice; and the ways in which appropriation, simulation, reuse, and eclecticism challenge out notions of originality, beauty, and authenticity. His interpretation of modernism gives new relevance to ritual, fantasy, diversity, spirituality, humanism, and ecology. Essays by experts from the cutting edge of art, design, and architecture add insights to both the philosophy behind Friedman's work and the critical response to it.