HUM 310 Modernism Terms

Assemblage

A genre (or artwork) featuring the combination of three-dimensional objects; the sculptural counterpart of collage.

Atonal/Atonality

In music, the absence of a tonal center or definitive key.

Avant-garde

Those who create or produce styles and ideas ahead of their time; an unconventional movement or style.

Biomorphic

Having organic or protoplasmic form.

Cantilever

A beam or horizontal bracket that projects beyond its support.

Collage

A composition created by pasting materials such as newspaper, wallpaper, photographs, or cloth on a flat surface or canvas.

Ferroconcrete

A cement building material reinforced by embedding wire or iron rods; 'reinforced concrete'.

Mobile

A sculpture constructed so that its parts move by natural or mechanical means.

Montage

A composite made by freely juxtaposing usually heterogeneous images; in cinema, the production of a rapid succession of images to present a stream of interconnected ideas.

Photomontage

The combination of freely juxtaposed and usually heterogeneous photographic images.

Scat singing

A jazz performance style in which nonsense syllables replace the lyrics of a song.

Serial technique

A technique in music that involves the use of a particular series of notes, rhythms, and other elements that are repeated throughout the piece.

Totalitarian

A political regime that imposes the will of the state upon the life and conduct of the individual.

Twelve-tone system

Type of serial music introduced by Arnold Schoenberg where all twelve tones are used equally.