{"id":346,"date":"2023-12-08T13:32:21","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T18:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/?p=346"},"modified":"2023-12-08T13:32:21","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T18:32:21","slug":"the-jet-age-aesthetic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/uncategorized\/the-jet-age-aesthetic\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jet Age Aesthetic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Frank Coyle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Found in the archives of the Burke Library, the selected piece of visual media is a Convair advertisement from Time Magazine in 1958. The advertisement contained in the January edition, entitled\u00a0Masterpiece of Design<\/em>, provides an image of an aircraft in front of an especially futuristic airport considering the time it was released. Through a focus on the ease of travel and an innovative tone,\u00a0Masterpiece of Design<\/em>\u00a0epitomizes the essence of the jet age aesthetic era within the United States. To further analyze this advertisement and its greater meaning, it is important to examine it through conducting two different types of analysis. First, a visual analysis will be utilized to investigate the elements of the media itself and how they portray meaning. Second, a contextual analysis will be employed with the purpose of uncovering what the piece is attempting to do, ultimately exploring what the intention behind its creation was.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the piece, an airplane rests in front of an airport terminal underneath a navy-blue skyline. The airplane, presented front and center, shines brighter than the tarmac that surrounds it casting a shadow onto it and drastically differentiating it from the dull grey pavement. The aircraft is positioned below the viewer, to make air travel seem less unattainable with this type of aircraft. The aircraft\u2019s body is painted in a metallic silver color, providing a sleek and modern appearance, providing a feeling of speed, motion, and comfort. Along with the metallic silver color there are navy blue and orange accents, creating a signature look to pair with its style. The position, color, and glowing appearance drive the airplane to be the feature object of the photograph and what viewers are drawn to. The airport terminal, depicted behind the aircraft, is designed futuristically with a chrome silver color that reflects both the navy-blue skyline and the fluorescent yellow light protruding from the terminal. The design of the airport itself is smooth, and paired with its large windows provides an innovative tone. The bright yellow light projecting from the airport terminal extends to the ground surrounding it, making it seem as though it is somewhere that people are drawn to. The highlighted aspects of the terminal\u2019s appearance create a feeling of the airport itself being the epicenter of the future. Between the aircraft and the terminal lies a parking lot crowded with cars, and people line the sidewalks. The people portrayed in the darkness of the parking lot are seemingly gravitating toward the terminal, invoking a sense of excitement and interest in its glowing appearance. Furthermore, the vast navy-blue skyline surrounding the image provides viewers with a sense of openness and freedom, allowing them to imagine the unexplored world that lies one plane ride away. The intricacies of this piece serve to provide viewers with a view into the future and create excitement surrounding it. The fascinating, futuristic design and illuminated nature of both the aircraft and the terminal filter blend with the vastness of the surrounding sky to create comfort in the ease of travel, demonstrating tactics of the jet-age aesthetic in a meaningful manner.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The selected piece is from 1958, which falls within the jet age era. The jet age era was a period in the mid-20th century when commercial air travel was rapidly expanding. Vanessa Schwartz\u2019s \u201cJet Age Aesthetic\u201d is a book that explores the visual culture of the jet age era. According to Schwartz, the jet age aesthetic is aimed at visualizing the ease of motion created by the jet and providing people with a fluid traveling experience. The core of this aesthetic is expressed in a certain visual language that defines this time.\u00a0Schwartz argues that this aesthetic functioned to visualize and contextualize this new type of fluid motion as a particularly glamorous experience. The advertisement showcases the Convair 880 Jetliner as a \u201cmasterpiece of design\u201d and promises that it will bring \u201ctomorrow\u2019s travel beyond your dreams.\u201d Further pushing the idea of this glamorous experience that air travel was perceived to be. The advertisement also uses the image of the jetliner to convey a sense of speed and motion, which is a key aspect of the jet age aesthetic by providing this fluid traveling experience to consumers. In \u201cHow to Look at News Pictures in America\u201d, Jason E. Hill discusses how images are used to convey information and how they can be interpreted in different ways. This advertisement is a useful example of how images can be used to convey information, as it showcases the Convair 880 Jetliner as a luxurious and modern mode of transportation. While commercial air travel was new to the American public, this luxuriousness and modernity contributed to drawing more people into air travel as a way of participating in the future. Together, these two concepts provide a fascinating insight into the complex and contradictory nature of the jet age era.\u00a0While the jet age aesthetic celebrated the power of technology to transform the world and provide people with new experiences, \u201cHow to Look at News Pictures in America\u201d reminds us that images can be used and interpreted in a variety of ways. Using Hill\u2019s framework, it is important to understand this media for what it is instead of falling into the consumer trap of the feelings it is supposed to create.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a smaller scale, visual media such as this advertisement are interesting to look back upon to understand different points in history through an interesting lens. The jet age era falls in a post-war time of great unknowns, and commercial air travel represents only one of those unknowns. In essence, the jet age era is symbolic of strategies utilized by corporations to capitalize on people\u2019s desire for the future and what it could behold. The modernity, luxuriousness, and speed were aspects of the aesthetic that inspired people that the future would be a more efficient, better place. After two World Wars in the first half of the century, the jet age era gave the average American something to be excited about, the future. While tactics of futurism and sleekness were employed to create this eagerness to be a part of the future, it remains important to see media for what it is, instead of the feelings the creator is attempting to bring out in those who view it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sources: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hill, Jason E. “How to Look at News Pictures in America.”\u00a0American Art<\/em>\u00a030.2 (2016): 78-91.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schwartz, Vanessa R.\u00a0“Jet age aesthetic: The glamour of media in motion.” Yale University Press<\/em>, 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frank Coyle Found in the archives of the Burke Library, the selected piece of visual media is a Convair advertisement from Time Magazine in 1958. The advertisement contained in the January edition, entitled\u00a0Masterpiece of Design, provides an image of an aircraft in front of an especially futuristic airport considering the time it was released. Through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":349,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions\/349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}