Word: ornamental
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...conquering style in the arts, however, is safe from a return of the vanquished, often dressed as an avantgarde. Today spartan modernism has been surprised in its sleep by a postmodern taste for ornament and the revival of moribund styles. Partly as a result, some artists are garnishing the edge again. Trompe l'oeil frames, tutti-frutti borders and jigsaw-cut silhouettes are multiplying in galleries that not long ago featured only trim metal runners...
...buildings, with their web of walkways, courts, terraces, stairs and walls, all highlighted with sculptures and other objects by the outstanding artists Saarinen attracted to Cranbrook, probably represent this century's most successful integration of architecture, landscape design and works of art. Every brick, shrub, fountain, gate and ornament contributes to the delight of the whole...
...every piece, Memphis impudently employs the twin taboos of modernism: pattern and ornament. Many are covered with vividly hued plastic laminate or sport metallic-threaded fabrics, and some are decorated with colored light bulbs. Los Angeles Designer Peter Shire's ironing-board-shaped table, Brazil, is finished in sea green, pink and yellow lacquer. It could serve as an animated cartoon prop, the perfect background for Tom and Jerry. Memphis Founder Ettore Sottsass Jr. has gone further. His Park Lane'coffee table is strictly from Oz: a giant black marble aspirin resting on delicate emerald green feet...
...background of burbling saxophones, or punching out Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn's Five Minutes More in front of some antiphonal spitfire trumpets that would have made Gabrieli gladly forsake San Marco for the recording studio, Sinatra is a master of mood and vocal nuance. He can ornament a line, subtly altering its rhythm, or bend just a single note to startlingly expressive purpose; he sings the first word of Just One of Those Things with a momentarily indeterminate pitch that colors the entire song with tantalizing emotional ambiguity. As evoked by Sinatra on I Love Paris, the city...
...reject the "form" of modern design. It is the materials that they resist. People want objects that reflect warmth, texture and the patina that develops with use. These qualities are found in wood, not chrome, glass and polyvinyl. As a cabinetmaker, I believe that it is not ornament that is demanded, but natural materials and some evidence that a human hand has touched the piece...