Remembering the Space Age. - Black Vault Radio Network (BVRN)

Far OUt: the SpaCe age IN aMerICaN CUltUre
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problems of managing the health of the planet; and the national or international
(or intergalactic?) government of and social relationships in space. Would
extraterrestrial travel become a terrain for renewal and betterment, or for
hubris and subsequent failure? Would spacecrafts and space colonies transcend
or simply transplant the divisions that beset humans on earth? Space exploration
brought no answers to dilemmas over technology, planetary consciousness, and
nationalism—versions of which had long preceded spacefight—but it did refresh
imaginations and reignite philosophical, religious, and practical controversies.
4. MId-CeNtUrY MOderNISM: gOOgIe deSIgNS
aNd “Far OUt” art
the term Space age, in addition to signifying a Cold War competition,
a media sensation, and a debate over future political and social structures,
signifed the look called Mid-Century Modernism. Space age design—in
architecture, signage, decorative arts, and painting—elaborated an aesthetic of
risk, individualism, and confdence. It emphasized eclecticism, mixing retro
primitivism with futuristic styles. It juxtaposed calm, planet-shaped curvatures
with abrupt, spaceship-style thrust. If the science of space penetration suggested
sleek exactitude, the wonder of the cosmos encouraged unpredictable pastiche. 55
Space age modernism brought spherical and angular motifs into a cacophony
of the unexpected. american automobiles sprouted their storied tailfns,
suggesting rocket propulsion. Manufacturers redesigned children’s playground
equipment: Space age kids ascended ladders into rockets, played house in
spaceships, and scrambled around on faux Moon surfaces. toys, coloring books,
wallpaper, and storybooks adapted space themes. Space mania revolutionized
the design of household items. Chandeliers resembled space platforms; dinnerware
assumed the elliptical shape of a satellite orbit; vases, ashtrays, and
appliances disguised their functions within new forms and facades.
French designer andré Courreges launched his Moon girl Collection in
1964. It featured angular, geometric shapes; space-style hats; short skirts in
white and silver; and high, shiny-white plastic “go-go” boots. his 1968 Space
age Collection continued to display simple, stark lines with metallic silver as
the design color of the age. the look of these “moon fashions” swept through
the worlds of famous designers and of street faddists. they adorned covers of
Vogue and percolated into the sew-it-yourself pattern catalogues that set the
styles on Main Street.
55. thomas hine, Populuxe (New York, NY: alfred a. Knopf, 1986); george h. Marcus, Design In
The Fifties:When Everyone Went Modern, (New York, NY: prestel, 1998). For background, see John
h. lienhard, Inventing Modern: Growing Up with X-rays, Skyscrapers, and Tailfns (New York, NY:
Oxford University press, 2003).