Lecture Notes - 16/12/09
Post Modernist = Response to Modernism
Post Modern condition is characterised by;
- Exhaustion
- Pluralism
- Pessimism
- Disillusionment with the idea of absolute knowledge
Some overlaps with Modernism (Modern life/Technology/New Materials/Communication)
Modernism is an expression of the above whereas PostModernism is a reaction.
Origin;
1917 - German writer Rudolph Pannwitz, spoke of ‘nihilistic, amoral, postmodern men’
1964 - Leslie Fielder described a ‘post’ culture, which rejected the elitist values of Modern Culture
Post Modernism truly began in the 1960's
Uses of the term postmodern;
- after modernism
- the historical era following the modern
- contra modernism
- equivalent to ‘late capitalism’(Jameson)
- artistic and stylistic eclecticism
- ‘global village’ phenomena: globalization of cultures, races, images, capital, products
Post Modernism reflected alot in Architectural development. Demolition of "Modernist" buildings. Alot of what we see today, originating from Modernism, can be considered unsightly and unwanted (blocks of flats). There is appeal, again, for aesthetics znd complexity over functionality.
Frank Gehry, Guggenheim museum, Bilbao, 1997
Las Vegas is purposefully built tacky. It's an opposition for the Modernist devlopments of Paris and New York. Vegas has a self aware attitude of it's money making purpose. Self awareness is a trait of Post Modernity, a type of self indulgence compared to Modernity's "ultimate functionality, understanding, utopian, simplicty".
Reality televison is seen as Post Modern. Big Brother and Quiz shows about Quiz shows are self referential.
Roy Lichtensteins Brush Stroke Artwork is a mock of tradtional art. Questions paiting as the "highest" form of art work. It is also mass produced as to devalue art.
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