Richard Hamilton | richard william hamilton
RichardHamiltonwasanartistwhose considerableambitionwasto"getallofliving"intohiswork.Inhis epoch-makingcollageof1956,Just WhatIsItThatMakesTodaysHomesSoDifferent,SoAppealing?,the livingspaceiscrowdedwithup-to‑the-minuteobjectsofdesire:theTV set,thevacuumcleaner,thetinnedham,thetaperecorder,thebodybuildersmuscles,thecone-shapecooliehatperchedonthesexynakedhousewifeonthesofa.Hamiltonsconsumerscatalogueiswellobservedandplayful.Butatamoreprofoundlevelitishorriblydisquieting.Nootherworkofartofits...
Richard Hamilton was an artist whose considerable ambition was to "get all of living" into his work. In his epoch-making collage of 1956, Just What Is It That Makes Todays Homes So Different, So Appealing?, the living space is crowded with up-to‑the-minute objects of desire: the TV set, the vacuum cleaner, the tinned ham, the tape recorder, the body builders muscles, the cone-shape coolie hat perched on the sexy naked housewife on the sofa. Hamiltons consumers catalogue is well observed and playful. But at a more profound level it is horribly disquieting. No other work of art of its period expresses so precisely the jarringly ambivalent spirit of the age.
In Britain in that early postwar era there was a sudden thrilling influx of sophisticated, streamlined consumer goods from the US. It was bonanza time for British housewares, too, as the government-supported Council of Industrial Design (now the Design Council) campaigned to improve sta...