Inventing the Modern World: Outing Report

The Steel City Steam Society had an outing to the Carnegie Museum of Art to see "Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs, 1851–1939" I am not much of an art museum kind of guy but I am interested in the history of the World's Fairs and felt that, even if I was not an art person, that I should support the cause with my attendance.

The group collected an hour early in the lobby of the museum and attendance was good. About fifteen. There were the requisite group pictures. There were the pictures and conversations from curious patrons. Security moved us to the side because we were blocking the traffic flow. One attendee had a pair of shoes that was falling apart and, coincidentally, not only did I still have my dress shoes still in the car from my interview of the week before but they were the correct size.

There was still some time before the tour so we slit up for a short time to browse some other galleries. My clockwork fez gathered a lot of attention with a lengthy discussion with on of the security guards and a group of high-school age patrons wanting their picture taken with me.

Par for the course.

Once the tour began, the first piece that caught my attention was a patent desk. Beautiful workmanship. In many ways, that's what the World's Fairs were about, showing off a nation's ability to create cool things. This desk was definitely cool. On top of the aesthetics and workmanship, it had lots of slots and drawers for things.

As the tour progressed, I found that I appreciated the art objects better for hearing the stories behind their creation. I found that I have a generally Victorian aesthetic and lost interest in those things created during and after the art nouveau period (1890) with a few exceptions. There was a really neat chair that I would look fantastic sitting in with my brown vest and velveteen clockwork fez. There was also a Japanese screen with an oceanscape of silk embroidery that looked like a photograph.

"Morning Sea" by Hashio Kiyoshi from the 1915 exhibition

Something that struck me from the exhibition was something to do with the Orientalism movement and modern revisionist interpretations of that.

Orientalism, for those that don't know, has to do with an aesthetic movement in "The West" was a fascination with "The East." The East, in this case being what we know today as the Middle East and essentially all points further east including India, China and Japan. I have run into some people within the steampunk community that seem to suggest that the use of any non-western style by a westerner in any form is a prejudicial cultural misappropriation shaped by the attitudes of imperialism. In short, Orientalism is racism incarnate. My wearing a waistcoat with Chinese dragons embroidered on it would brand me a bigot.

The 1862 World's Fair in London was the first to show a large number of Japanese objects. The display was an immense success and critics advocated the need for reform in Britain, urging manufacturers and designers to look to Japanese objects to improve their own designs. At the 1867 exhibition in Paris, there were a number of objects that were aping Japanese techniques and styles but, more importantly, the Japanese had their own pavilion and were displaying their own wares. And, not only that, they were adjusting their style to appeal to the European market. There were a number of pieces in the exhibit where you could see this cross pollination happening.

And this was even before the Meiji Restoration when the Japanese adoption of Western styles went into overdrive.

Yes, it was a market. Not just a market of products, which the Japanese jumped into with both feet, but a market of ideas. Their ability to thrive in that market allowed them to go from a primitive, feudal economic and political system to a modern, regional powerhouse in little over generation. Japan had done in 40 years what Europe took 400 to accomplish.

Was the Meiji restoration a misappropriation of Western culture by the Japanese? Orientalism seems less black and white when both parties have an interest in and are adopting cultural elements of the other.

And let's take it back a bit. There have been aesthetic trends in England that adopted trends from Paris. Or from Italy. Is that a cultural misappropriation? How dissimilar do cultures need to be for it to be inappropriate to adopt some aesthetics? Does cultural misappropriation only happen in one direction? It seems to me that those who are so rabid about any form of cultural appropriation are acting against the concept of multi-culturalism. One cannot appreciate a foreign culture without “trying it on”.

Is “The Legend of Korra” a cultural misappropriation or a sign of multiculturalism? What about “Tai Chi Zero” or “The Good, the Bad, and the Weird”?

Globalism and multi-culturalism are not modern, liberal inventions. They were born out of the 18th and 19th centuries. They were not necessarily easy births, what with Commodore Perry’s Black Ships in Tokyo Bay and all, but in many ways that and other imperialist interventions were "The West's" first real encounter with "The East." and, in spite of differences, both found value in the other.