Postmodernismjames.beighton@leeds-art.ac.uk

Definition● postmodernism Term applied to a wide range

of cultural analysis and production since the early 1970s. Whilst there are different attitudes to what postmodernism is, it is generally referred to as a significant shift in attitude away from the certainties of a modernism based on progress. The cultural traits usually associated with postmodern cultural production include the acceptance of many styles, the importance of surface and the playful adoption of different styles through parody and pastiche.

Term used from about 1970 to describe changes seen to take place in Western society and culture from the 1960s on. These changes arose from anti-authoritarian challenges to the prevailing orthodoxies across the board. In art, postmodernism was specifically a reaction against modernism. It may be said to begin with Pop art and to embrace much of what followed including Conceptual art, Neo-Expressionism, Feminist art, and the Young British Artists of the 1990s. Some outstanding characteristics of postmodernism are that it collapses the distinction between high culture and mass or popular culture; that it tends to efface the boundary between art and everyday life; and that it refuses to recognise the authority of any single style or definition of what art should be.

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If Modernism is roughly from 1860-1960

Then logically Postmodernism is 1960s - Today(Though some critics state Postmodernism is over and we have entered a phase of Post-Postmodernism)

Modernism:

● Initially born out of optimism, an aspirationalreaction to World War 1, with a view toharnessing technology to improve people’slives

● Ends up doctrinaire, almost blind obedienceto rules, above all

● Form Follows Function

Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, Poissy, 1928 - 9

Postmodernism● A reaction to these rules● Starts as a critique of the International Style

● Robert Venturi, Learning from Las Vegas, 1972● Ideas developed by Charles Jencks, 1977

● Only rule is that there are no rules● Celebrates what might otherwise be termed

kitsch

If Modernism equates with:●Simplified aesthetic●Utopian ideals●Truth to materials●Form follows Function

Then Postmodernism involves:●Complexity●Chaos●Bricolage (mixing up of styles and materials)●Parody, pastiche and irony

● Postmodernism has an attitude of questioning conventions (especially those set out by Modernism)

● Postmodern aesthetic = multiplicity of styles & approaches

● Theme of ‘double coding’, borrowing, or ‘quoting’ from a number of historical styles

● Knowing juxtapositions, or ‘postmodernist irony’● Questioning old limitations● Space for marginalised discourse:

● Women, sexual diversity & multiculturalism

Postmodernism

Le Corbusier, Chapel of Notre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, 1953 - 5

Le Corbusier, Maisons Jaoul, Neuilly sur Seine, 1954 - 6

Robert Venturi:‘I like elements which are hybrid rather than “pure”, compromising rather than “clean”, distorted rather than “straight-forward”, ambiguous rather than “articulated”, perverse as well as impersonal….’

Las Vegas

‘I didn’t like Europe as much as I liked DisneyWorld. At Disney World all the countries are muchcloser together, and they just show you the best ofeach country. Europe is more boring. People talkstrange languages and things are dirty. Sometimes you don’t see anything interesting inEurope for days, but at Disney World somethingdifferent happens all the time, and people arehappy. It’s much more fun. It’s well designed!’

A college graduate just back from her first trip to Europe, in Papanek, V. (1995), TheGreen Imperative: Ecology and Ethics in Design and Architecture, London, Thames andHudson, page 139

Mies Van der Rohe and Philip Johnson, Seagram Building, New York, 1957

Philip Johnson, Sony Plaza (former AT&T Building), New York, 1978 - 84

Ron Herron/Archigram, Walking City in New York, 1964

Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, Pompidou Centre, Paris, 1972 - 77

James Stirling, Neue Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, Germany, 1977 - 1983

Michael Graves, Kettle, for Alessi, 1985

Philippe Starck, Juicy Salif, 1990

Ettore Sotsass (for Memphis Group), Carlton Bookcase, 1981

SEX Boutique, Kings Road London, 1975 (Vivienne Westwood on left)

Hussein Chalayan, After Words, 2000 - 2001

Hussein Chalayan, spring/summer ’07 collection

Hussein Chalayan, Veiled and Unveiled/ Chador, 1998

Mark Rothko, Murals for Four Seasons Restaurant, Seagram Building, 1957, now in Tate Modern

Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Cans, 1962

Roy Lichtenstein, Drowning Girl, 1963

Jeff Koons, Dirty - Jeff on top, 1992

Jeff Koons, Michael Jackson and Bubbles, 1988

Marcel Duchamp (1887 - 1968), Fountain, 1917

Marcel Duchamp (1887 - 1968), L.H.O.O.Q, 1919

David ShrigleyMichael Craig-Martin, An Oak Tree, 1973

Q. To begin with, could you describe this work? A. Yes, of course. What I've done is change a glass of water into a full-grown oak tree without

altering the accidents of the glass of water. Q. The accidents? A. Yes. The colour, feel, weight, size ... Q. Do you mean that the glass of water is a symbol of an oak tree?

A. No. It's not a symbol. I've changed the physical substance of the glass of water into that of an oak tree.

Q. It looks like a glass of water. A. Of course it does. I didn't change its appearance. But it's not a glass of water, it's an oak tree. Q. Can you prove what you've claimed to have done?

A. Well, yes and no. I claim to have maintained the physical form of the glass of water and, as youcan see, I have. However, as one normally looks for evidence of physical change in terms ofaltered form, no such proof exists.

Q. Haven't you simply called this glass of water an oak tree? A. Absolutely not. It is not a glass of water anymore. I have changed its actual substance. It would

no longer be accurate to call it a glass of water. One could call it anything one wished but that would not alter the fact that it is an oak tree.

Q. Isn't this just a case of the emperor's new clothes? A. No. With the emperor's new clothes people claimed to see something that wasn't there because

they felt they should. I would be very surprised if anyone told me they saw an oak tree. Q. Was it difficult to effect the change? A. No effort at all. But it took me years of work before I realised I could do it. Q. When precisely did the glass of water become an oak tree? A. When I put the water in the glass. Q. Does this happen every time you fill a glass with water? A. No, of course not. Only when I intend to change it into an oak tree.

Michael Craig-Martin, An Oak Tree, 1973

Q. Then intention causes the change? A. I would say it precipitates the change. Q. You don't know how you do it? A. It contradicts what I feel I know about cause and effect. Q. It seems to me that you are claiming to have worked a miracle. Isn't that the case? A. I'm flattered that you think so. Q. But aren't you the only person who can do something like this? A. How could I know? Q. Could you teach others to do it? A. No, it's not something one can teach. Q. Do you consider that changing the glass of water into an oak tree constitutes an art work? A. Yes. Q. What precisely is the art work? The glass of water? A. There is no glass of water anymore. Q. The process of change? A. There is no process involved in the change. Q. The oak tree? A. Yes. The oak tree. Q. But the oak tree only exists in the mind.

A. No. The actual oak tree is physically present but in the form of the glass of water. As the glass of water was a particular glass of water, the oak tree is also a particular oak tree. To conceive thecategory 'oak tree' or to picture a particular oak tree is not to understand and experience what appears to be a glass of water as an oak tree. Just as it is imperceivable it also inconceivable.

Q. Did the particular oak tree exist somewhere else before it took the form of a glass of water? A. No. This particular oak tree did not exist previously. I should also point out that it does not and will

not ever have any other form than that of a glass of water. Q. How long will it continue to be an oak tree? A. Until I change it.

Damien Hirst, Mother and Child Divided, 1993

Tracey Emin, Everyone I have ever slept with 1963 - 95, 1995

Tracey Emin My Bed 1998

Sarah Lucas, Au Naturel, 1994

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Zygotic acceleration, biogenetic, de-sublimated libidinal model X 1000,1995

Jake (1966 - ) and Dinos (1962 - ) Chapman, Zygotic acceleration, biogenetic, de-sublimated libidinal model (enlarged X 1000), 1995

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Fuck Face, 1995

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Works from the Chapman Family Collection, 2002

Chris Ofili No Woman, No Cry 1998 Chris Ofili, Holy Virgin Mary, 1996

Chris Ofili, Captain Shit and the Legend of the Black Stars , 1997

Chris Ofili, Shithead

Martin Creed Work No. 227: The lights going on and off 2000

Martin Creed, Work No. 81 a one inch cube of maskingtape in the middle of every wall in a building, 1993

Mark Wallinger, Sleeper

Helmut Krone for Doyle Dane Berbach, Think Small, advert for Volkswagen, 1959

Tony Kaye/Ogilvy & Mather, Dunlop, 1993http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLWWtgqDG2M

‘Even though it was not built using a game engine,The House of Osama Bin Laden (Langlands andBell 2003) fits squarely into the growing trend inFPS [first-person shooter] art to replicate realspaces. Its inclusion on the 2004 Turner Prizeshortlist is therefore a significant event forvideogame art … this shows that even if videogameart has not yet become mainstream, then at leastart resembling videogame art is on the cusp ofinstitutional acceptance’

Clarke, A. and Mitchell, G. (eds) (2007), Videogames and Art, Bristol, Intellect Books, p. 22

‘The House of Osama Bin Laden explores ways inwhich evidence of the identity or presence of aperson may be discovered, revealed or projected,in a locality after their departure. In the aftermathof September 11 Osama bin Laden has attained aquasi mythical status. At the time of making thiswork, the question remains: is he alive or dead? Where are his remains, or where is he hiding?’

Langlands, B. and Bell, N. (2004) The House of Osama Bin Laden, London, Thames and Hudson, p. 221

Langlands and Bell, The House of Osama Bin Laden, 2003

Langlands and Bell, The House of Osama Bin Laden, 2003

Langlands and Bell, The House of Osama Bin Laden, 2003

David Carson, Ray Gun, double page spread

David Carson, Don’t mistake legibility for communication

Barbara Kruger, I shop therefore I am, 1987,

Selfridges, Buy Me. I’ll change your life,

Selfridges, Buy Me. I’ll change your life,

Andy Warhol, Campbell’s Soup Can, 1964

Andy Warhol, Turquoise Marilyn, 1964

Rachel Whiteread (1963 - ), House, 1993

The K.L.F. (Kopyright Liberation Front) (Bill Drummond (1953 - ) and Jimmy Cauty (1956 - ))

The K Foundation, Nailed to the Wall (1994)

The K Foundation, Movie Still from Watch the K Foundation Burn a Million Quid (1994)

Richard Long, A Line Made by Walking, 1967

Richard Long (1945 - ), A Smell of Sulphur in the Wind, 1994 (divided by Bill Drummond)

Bill Drummond at work on A Smell of Sulphur in the Wind

SUMMARY

● Postmodern attitude of questioning conventions (esp. Modernism)

● Postmodern aesthetic = multiplicity of styles & approaches

● Shift in thought & theory investigating ‘crisis in confidence’

● Space for ‘new voices’

Postmodernism‘That postmodernism is indefinable is a truism. However, it can be described as a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices employingconcepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum, and hyperreality to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning’

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/postmodernism/

The Future – Altermodern?Coined by curator Nicolas Bourriaud on the occasion of the Tate Triennial 2009, Altermodern is an in-progress redefinition of modernity in the era of globalisation, which focuses on cultural translations and time-space crossings. Against cultural standardisation and massification but also opposed to nationalisms and cultural relativism, Altermodern artists position themselves within the world’s culturalgaps. Cultural translation, mental nomadism and format crossing are the main principles of Altermodern art. Viewing time as a multiplicity rather than as a linear progress, the Altermodern artist navigates history as well as all the planetary time zones producing links between signs faraway from each other. Altermodern is ‘docufictional’ in that it explores the past and the present to create original paths where boundaries between fiction and documentary are blurred. Formally speaking, it favours processes and dynamic forms to one-dimensional single objects and trajectories to static Masses

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