During the 70s there was a kind of countercurrent that faced the prevailing academicism of the moment, the deconstructivism. Graphic artists associated with the punk movement demonstrated an alternative to rigid and established models in the profession. Although deconstruction was born in the heart of architecture, graphic design soon took over the term and many artists took it as the principle that sustained their works. It is a concept lacking in rigor and precision since at no time was it established as a current itself or an ism within the avant-garde.
Even so, it presented certain features that made it defining and that characterized the creations of artists who, despite knowing the prevailing and official standards of graphic design at that time, deliberately decided not to apply them. Contrary to what one might think, the objective of this trend was not to destroy a composition, rather it was to modify its structure and give it a different function. This has a direct impact on the language and on the way to present a proposal since the hierarchy in the treatment of information was lost and the message to be made became somewhat diffuse. In architecture, which is the origin of this trend, deconstruction occurred above all inside buildings, where signs of a repressed impurity as a symbolic component. The dislocation, disorder and deviation of the concepts are key elements and provide a chaotic impression, a sense of uncontrolled at the same time that is ineffable for all those who observed the works. It is an aesthetic that flirts with and intermingles with cubism and surrealism in graphic arts and that seems to be making a comeback, especially in the field of photomanipulation. Here are some very inspiring examples:
Photography by Nigel Tomm
