Hippie Modernism: The Struggle for Utopia - by Andrew Blauvelt & Ross Elfline (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Hippie Modernism examines the art, architecture and design of the counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s. The catalog surveys the radical experiments that challenged societal norms while proposing new kinds of technological, ecological and political utopia. It includes the counter-design proposals of Victor Papanek and the anti-design polemics of Global Tools; the radical architectural visions of Archigram, Superstudio, Haus-Rucker-Co and ONYX; the installations of Ken Isaacs, Joan Hills, Mark Boyle, Hélio Oiticica and Neville D'Almeida; the experimental films of Jordan Belson, Bruce Conner and John Whitney; posters and prints by Emory Douglas, Corita Kent and Victor Moscoso; documentation of performances by the Diggers and the Cockettes; publications such as Oz and The Whole Earth Catalog; books by Marshall McLuhan and Buckminster Fuller; and much more.

While the turbulent social history of the 1960s is well known, its cultural production remains comparatively under-examined. In this substantial volume, scholars explore a range of practices such as radical architectural and anti-design movements emerging in Europe and North America; the print revolution in the graphic design of books, posters and magazines; and new forms of cultural practice that merged street theater and radical politics. Through a profusion of illustrations, interviews with figures, including Gerd Stern of USCO, Ken Isaacs, Gunther Zamp Kelp of Haus-Rucker-Co, Ron Williams and Woody Rainey of ONYX, Franco Raggi of Global Tools, Tony Martin, Clark Richert and Richard Kallweit of Drop City, as well as new scholarly writings, this book explores the conjunction of the countercultural ethos and the modernist desire to fuse art and life.

Review Quotes

In its exploration of counterculture, Hippie Modernism: The Struggle of Utopia brings together designs for alternate communities...the mind-expanding prototypes anticipate the themes of ecology, recycling, immersive environments and audience participation which are so prevalent in the art world today.--Hilarie M. Sheets "W Magazine"