Pattern and Ornament: Response to "CAM Raleigh: Ornament and Pattern"

  This article, 'Ornament and Pattern', was written by Susan Yelavich. The beginning of this article starts to talk about pattern and ornament as a whole and even get's into a little bit of its history. I found it fascinating that the perception of both pattern and ornament had changed so much over history. I would understand the gender specific connections but the perceptions of these two art forms took a political turn. The fact that a group of people, and I assume that the article is referring to a large majority of people, could condemn and a whole style of art just blows my mind! Also it was really cool to see Yelavich list out a couple of examples people have used ornament, I already knew that in old America people would use the pineapples as a way of welcome, but I had no idea about the others. A lot of this part of the article talks about the evolution of pattern and ornament due to the changing times. Machines were able to make the art that only craftsmen could before, therefore the lower class people could get a hold of these items because they were inexpensive. Also I still don't quite understand how these upper class people went from intricate patterns and ornaments, to modernism... I guess I'll just have to run with it.

  Out of all the different types of ornament and pattern "sub-genres" I personally think I relate to Fantasy the most. The colors and oddities of it are definitely relatable to me. The Amplification "sub-genre" really reminds me of the metalwork that we went over in class. That's probably because of the contemporary feel though... The Everyday and Inheritances "sub-genres" seem very similar to me. They both in some way have a relation/connection to that past, and apply that. In the Everyday part of the article, the author refers to the fragile lace paper that the people in turkey drink on, and how it has changed over time. Overall this article was very informative.