This page is a collection of common terms and acronyms used frequently in CARI discussion.
While we do not track artistic movements from before 1970, older artistic movements can be influences on modern aesthetics that our project does track. For this reason, we provide a glossary of architecture and fine art terminology to help make our aesthetic descriptions more accessible.
Many of the fine art descriptions are quotations or paraphrasings from Wikipedia, and we have
linked to
their articles appropriately.
We have found this sufficient for forming an intuitive understanding of an art movement in our
discussion
context, but we strongly recommend seeking more comprehensive resources if you plan on a
proper exploration
involving these movements.
A
(no terms)
B
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BDA
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Acronym for Bougie-Design-Aesthetics, a.k.a. Corporate-Memphis and its wider family of aesthetics.
Relevant Aesthetics
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BoHo
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Short for "Bohemian". When used in CARI, it references the social/artistic movement of Bohemianism in the late 1800’s, where upper class French artists lived in and appropriated from lower class Romani communities. This attitude of class appropriation often sees resurgence in consumer aesthetics, especially those associated with the American "hipster" subculture in the late 2000s, like Boho Chic and Hipness Purgatory.
References
Relevant Aesthetics
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Brutalism
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A post-WWII architectural movement that used blocky shapes and bare exposed construction materials like concrete & steel to create stark minimalist designs.
References
Relevant Aesthetics
C
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Carcinization
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"a form of convergent evolution in which non-crab crustaceans evolve a crab-like body plan. The term was introduced into evolutionary biology by L. A. Borradaile, who described it as "the many attempts of Nature to evolve a crab". In the context of our research as CARI, we often observe carcinization in recurring motifs that appear across decades and become shorthands for specific meanings (e.g. "greebling" as a way of conveying futuristic high technology).
References
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CARI
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Acronym for the "Consumer Aesthetics Research Institute." That’s us baby!
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CGXC
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Acronym for the aesthetic "Corporate Gen X Cyber".
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Color Psychology
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"...the study of hues as a determinant of human behavior". This concept is relevant to CARI since color can influence a consumer's emotions and perceptions about a product. Marketers & product designers will often use colorways to communicate ideals about a product like personalization and individualism.
References
Relevant Aesthetics
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Consumer Aesthetics
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Established aesthetics that are used in major mass marketing campaigns. These aesthetics often begin as Folk Aesthetics that develop an organic following strong enough to be appropriated by larger companies. As CARI, we document these aesthetics to help us make observations about the historical zeitgeist of an era.
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Convergent Evolution
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"...the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time." In the context of CARI, artists from different parts of the world can sometimes create similar works in the style of an aesthetic despite not having the exact same influences.
References
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Cubism
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"[A highly influential 20th century art movement where] subjects are analysed, broken up, and reassembled in an abstract form—instead of depicting objects from a single perspective, the artist depicts the subject from multiple perspectives to represent the subject in a greater context." In CARI's context, Cubisim's influence can be felt in aesthetics like Global Village Coffeehouse.
References
Relevant Aesthetics