But this new art was to be rather different from what Whitman had optimistically envisioned. What Whitman had in mind was a larger aesthetic vision of democratic civilization which would have incorporated the world of science and technology. For the modernists, on the other hand, the new world of the machine was far more complex and their response was far more ambivalent.
Clearly, the changes that occurred during the years following Whitman's declaration of 1871 were extraordinary, even beyond any expectation: the material world was virtually rebuilt from scratch and the human subject came to be placed in an environment that was continuously changing. Candles and oil lamps had been replaced by lightbulbs powered by that invisible power, electricity; the wireless radio became ever more common in the dining-room. Specialized industrial processes had been in effect since the 1880s, but with electricity mechanization was much accelerated. In 1910, one in ten urban homes had electricity; by 1930 most did, and the consumer, especially the lady of the house, was surrounded with new machines: irons, sewing machines, vacuum cleaners, toasters, washing machines, refrigerators, in brief the household was transformed into a wholly new, exciting, mechanized environment.
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