Wednesday 17th Oct 2012
"Post- Modernism" Lecture Notes
James Beighton
POST- MODERNISM
- 1960's - Today (however some state this era has finished and that we are in a Post-Postmodernism)
- The acceptance of many styles, the importance of surface and the playful adoption of different styles through parody & pastiche
- Collapses the distinction between high culture and mass/popular culture (the boundary of high art and the everyday)
- Post-modernism involves Complexity, Chao, Bricolage (Different materials), Parody, Pastiche & Irony
Initially a reaction to Modernist Rules
- Started as a critique of the International Style
- Robert Venturi (1972) followed by Charles Jencks (1977)
- 1 rule: there are no rules
- Celebrates what is regarded as Kitsch- "something is knowingly in bad taste"
Post-modernism has an attitude of questioning conventions
- Aesthetic is a multiplicity of styles and approaches
- "Double Coding" theme- "to borrow or quote from other styles"
- Juxtapositions or "Postmodernist Irony"
- Space for marginalised discourse, including women, sexuality and multiculturalism
- Questioning the old limitations
Las Vegas- The Ultimate Post-Modern City
- Mini Versions of other places and of existing microcosms (Replicas)
- Cheap, Tacky Appearance but knows it and flaunts it as its selling point
EXAMPLES OF POST-MODERNISM
Architecture:
Le Corbusier "Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut" (1953-1955)
- Deliberately employs rubbish workers to build the structure to go against Modernity
Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers "Pompidou Centre"(1972-1977)
- Functionality is on the outside
- Shocking at first but has lost impact due to its found acceptance
Design:
Michael Graves "Kettle" 1985
- Designer piece- more about expressing the consumers personality
- Bird sings instead of Kettle whistling
Fashion:
Hussain Chalayan "After Words" (2000-2001)
- Fashions response to War
- Collection draws attention to what belongings you pack up in times of war
- What statement is it making? -Surface/Depth?
Vivienne Westwood & Michael McClean- Sex Boutique (1975)
- Punk Aesthetic- Questions the rules of social convention
Fine Art:
Andy Warhol "Campbell's Soup Cans" (1962)
- Pop Art celebrating the everyday
- Blur of Popular Culture and High Art
- Banksy parody of this and "The Turquoise Marilyn"
- Highlights the irony and the parody within the culture
Jeff Koons "Dirty..." (1992) and "Michael Jackson & Bubbles" (1988)
- Self- Celebratory
- Cheapness of Popular Culture
- Knowingly Tacky
- Kitsch
Chris Ofili "Holy Virgin Mary"(1996) and "No Woman, No Cry" (1998)
- Represent Black society and Popular Culture towards Black People- Bob Marley Reference
- Elephant Dung stands- White perception of Back Roots
Games:
Langlands and Bell "The House of Osama Bin Laden" (2004)
- Never Win the Game
- No function or purpose
- Question of why your even playing the game?
Graphic Design:
David Carson "Ray Gun Magazine" and "Don't Mistake Legibility for Communication"
- Lack of legibility within the magazine
- Upturning Layout and Placement
- Aesthetic displaying a Lifestyle
- Questioning our concepts
Barbara Fruger "I Shop Therefore I Am" (1987)
- Voicing femininity
- Critical Comment upon society and consumerism (Iconic Mocking)
THE FUTURE FROM POST-MODERNISM: ALTERMODERN?
- In-progress reinvention of Modernity, according to Nicolas Bourriaud
- Response to Post-Modernism
- 'Docu-functional'- explores both past and the present where fact and fiction have become blurred
- Placement of being within Cultural Gaps rather than being within massification or relativism
- Favours the 1-Dimensional and singular objects
CONCLUSION
- Aesthetic of Different styles
- Shift in Thought and Theory investigating "Crisis in Confidence"
- Space for New Voices- Is it making a serious point?
- Questioning Conventions
"THAT POST-MODERNISM IS INDEFINABLE IS A TRUISM"
No comments:
Post a Comment