thatonegirl [dot] net

I was reading an commentary on Wired News by Momus about wall-to-wall advertising and how we have become accustomed to it.

Momus writes:
• “In his book Iconography and Electronics upon a Generic Architecture, postmodernist guru Robert Venturi celebrates “an architecture that embraces signs, reference, representation, iconography, scenography and trompe l’oeil as its valid dimensions.”

  Far from seeing advertising as visual pollution, Venturi likens it to the mosaics that decorate Byzantine churches. “Grand advertising Jumbotrons atop buildings in Tokyo and Osaka can, along with temple hieroglyphics and mosaic iconography, work as precedent for a generic architecture employing video display systems — where the sparkle of pixels can parallel the sparkle of tesserae and LED can become the mosaics of today,” Venturi declares.“

Words like tesserae, mosaics, iconography and trompe l’oeil turn me on. I’m a nerd, I know. Deal with it. The Super Bowl is the greatest invention ever, it combines two of my favorite things (advertising and football!!).

I would love to get my hands on that book! In Fall of 2004 I took ART 4376: The History of Graphic Design with a professor I was very fond of. I remember him mentioning in one of his lectures how Graphic Design and Architecture are related. No wonder I love them both. Architecture is basically 3-D graphic design. I was eating with a friend this past week and trying to explain to him about why I majored in Art History. That above statement pretty much summarizes why. Art History is one of the only disciplines that combines both Graphic Deisgn and the study of Architecture as art forms. Modern Art really doesn’t do a thing for me, but I’ve always been fascinated with buildings and advertisements. I love medieval architecture and the ornamental decorations on the inside: it was their version of advertising!

Link to the article: It’s Madvertising!