The Ulm School- Max Bills

​Max Bills cannot be classed under one label of professionalism, he is an artist, designer, architect, product designer, painter, sculptor and the list of achievements he has had throughout his career is extensive to say the least.
Max Bill’s was a Swiss artist born in December 1908 (died 1994 Berlin) in Winterthur. He was an incredibly influential and talented man with a thirst to create. He began his successful career from a young age and already showed his unique understanding of layout, composition, typography and design skills when he won a competition to create a poster for a popular chocolate bar company, he also had his work exhibited at the well known ‘Exposition Internationale des arts decoratifs’ in Paris at the age of 17. Bill’s was studying at the Zurich School of Applied Arts from 1924-1927 as an apprentice Silversmith, however he was expelled and instead went on to The Bauhaus with the prize money he won from the poster design.
Max Bill’s was learning at The Bauhaus with several established Artists to our day such as Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. He only attended the school until 1928 however, his design’s and career beyond The Bauhaus reflect how prominent this time of his life was.
After The Bauhaus Bill’s went on to be on the Swiss Werkbund and was in an artist group of influential talent in Paris called ‘Abstraction-Creation’ he also founded The Allianz Publishing House for Abstract Artists and The Institute of Progressive Culture, this is just to name a few of his many achievements in life.
Max Bill’s is best known for his co-founding in The Ulm School of Design. He was the Architect for the School and the head of department for Architecture and Product Design, understandably as he had already taught this subject at Zurich.
Bill’s was heavily involved in the design of the school and its curriculum, he took great inspiration from The Bauhaus’s philosophy and incorporated this into the school’s ways. Max taught at the school until 1957 and was the rector until 1956. During this period of his life he created a vast array of designs which are still manufactured to this day such as the Ulm Stool which he co-created with Hans Gugelot and his designs for Junghans wrist watches and stools.
You could say Max Bill’s was like the Hindu goddess Durga, his repertoire for talent were his weapons and each arm was a skill he owned with his creative mind. His style was of a constructivist and was the founder of the movement ‘concrete art’ which is similar to constructivism however when Bill’s applies it he involves heavy colour and no reference to shapes that reflected nature specifically or rules that had to follow cubism, instead his work produced was made up of interesting shapes that just worked.
Max Bill’s work that is most notable to me is his Graphic Designs and Advertising Posters. His designs are clear and concise, usually with a san’s serif typeface and in a lower-case format. The layout of his work is elegant and simple, I also admire his stripped-down use of simple geometric forms and lines to add depth to an image which usually take center fold. Furthermore, his particular use of imagery in his Graphic work creates a no fuss straight to the point attitude, but my main appreciation of his work is his bold colour choices in relation to simple geometric forms with the clear attributes of concrete art and constructivism. His style of graphics and typography are a joy of modernity and can be hailed to his Swiss background.
After Max finished teaching at the Ulm School, he went on to be a professor in Hamburg at The Institute of Fine Arts. He was designing and creating sculptures up until he was 80. His main aim when he was creating objects and art forms were for the human experience, he defined this in 4 statements:
 “Utility: the object should fulfil all the functions for which it has been created
Usefulness: the choice of materials and the means of production should enhance the usefulness of the object
Suitability of form: The form of an object should accord perfectly with its intended purpose.
Aesthetic unity: The form should not simply be a response to its use but should be manifest as a harmonious whole, evoking a general impression of beauty.”
 
 
He was an intellect and creative genius from viewing the correlations of Mathematics, Geometry and Art, his life’s work should always be admired and celebrated.

http://www.saturationpoint.org.uk/max_bill.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Max-Bill
http://www.artnet.com/artists/max-bill/
https://www.bagtazocollection.com/blog/2016/3/15/max-bill
 
 
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