Post Modernism

Lecture 2

1960's to arguably now.
A mix of High Culture and Popular Culture.

Intitially born out of optimism, an aspirational reaction to World War 1. With a view of harnessigng technology and improving peoples lives.

Post modernism started as a critique of the international modern style. It is a reaction to the rules, and the only rule became there aren't any rules. Post modernism celebrated the Kitsch ( knowing its bad taste) It includes things such as 

• complexity
• chaos
• bricoloage (mixing up styles and materials)
• parody, pastiche (copying of styles in a poorer quality) and irony

Post modernism questions conventions, and contains multiple styles and approaches. There are themes of double-coding, borrowing and quoting from historical styles. It questions old limitations. And the space between discourse is marginalized e.g. women, sexual diversity, and multiculturalism. 
Typically all design/ art was produced by white western heterosexual males and so all art/design had a particularly bias view upon subjects and the world.

Architecture 

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

Away with rigid box structures, and clean crisp functional materials.

Le Corbusier, Maison Jaoul, 1954-6

Again this structure has added detailing, the brick work is uncovered and wooden frames are on display. The architect deliberately hired builders that weren't as good as many others, so that the brickwork would purposefully not be aligned or correct.

Las Vegas, 2012

Las Vegas, 2012

Very pastiche, kitsch. It simulated other countries and places all at once brings about the idea do you really need to go to the real thing to experience it.

Fashion

Hussein Chalayan

Afterwords Collection

2000

The idea being the models could pack up all the furniture and turn them into clothes, this was inspired by Chalayan's experiences of civil war, and the need to pack up all of your possesions when war hits.

However as everyday items they aren't really practical. And there is a mixture of styles.

 

Veiled/ Unveiled/ Chador, 1998 

Is it politically led Is it about women's rights or is it just bad taste and achieving the shock value of nudity on the catwalk.

Vivienne Westwood

Icon of the punk era, designed shocking clothing that was meant to question the conventions in society.

Vivienne Westwood ( far right) Sex Boutique, Kings Road, London, 1975

Art

Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup Cans, 1962

Reflects the everyday something which hadn't really been portrayed before, the importance of teenagers rose as did consumerism. It blurs the lines between High Culture and Popular Culture further.

Roy Lichtenstein, Drowning Girl, 1963

An magazine aesthetic has been used as a piece of art, again it is redefining High Culture.

Jeff Koons, Micheal Jackson and Bubbles, 1988

This piece is very kitsch, the designer know it isn't good taste and this is the reasoning behind this , it could also be a reflection of pop music at the time.

Women in Art

Tracey Emin, Everyone I Have Ever Slept With, 1963-1995, 1995

Tracey Emin is questioning the social conventions of society, this piece doesn't just reference to her sexual relationships, it is anyone she has slept with from childhood to present day, being her mum and dad, friends at sleepovers e.c.t. This also shows women becoming more accepted in art, and as artists.

Sarah Lucas, Au Naturel, 1994

The artist is mocking typical social stereotypes, and so it is a piece of parody, yet it too questions the conventions of people in society.

Multiculturalism

Chris Ofili, The Holy Virgin Mary, 1996

This image was very shocking when it was produced and it still is today to some religious people. It depicts the virgin Mary as being black, as in any other piece she is white, even thought she is from Africa. This outraged people. The picture also contains rendered elephant dung- perhaps a social stereotype of African people, and within the dung pornographic images, again questioning the convention of virgin. However this image also represents Chris Ofili as a representative of multiculturalism and gaining a voice/ perspective within art.

Langlands and Bell

The House of Osama Bin Laden 

2003

Was exhibited as a game you had to walk around, people would interact with it but never find what they where looking for, as would nobody else. Its neverending. Its a direct metaphor of the search for Osama Bin Laden in 2003 ( although not now). 

Again you could say it is questioning the rules/ conventions of art.

Other Artists associated with post modernism

• Damien Hirst
• Jake and Dino Chapman
• Micheal Craig-Martin
• Mark Wallinger

Design

David Carson, Ray Gun Spread

Plays with the legibility of the type, slightly unfunctional. A new arrangement of layout and type. Follows the grunge scene.

Babara Kruger, Selfridges Adverts, 2007

Babara Kruger, is mocking consumerism in theese pieces, they again question social conventions.

Banksy, Soup Can, 2005

Similar to Andy Warhol, Banksy is questing art and its rules. He is portraying the everyday.

The Value of money in art

K Foundation, Nailed to the Wall, 1994

 The artists responsible for the K Foundation which celebrates the worst art of the year, kitsch.

They nailed a million pound to the wall, which really questions what art is and the value of art.

K Foundation, Burn a Million Quid, 1994

They then could not sell the art or return the money as it all had big nail holes through it , so they burnt the money, which is shocking , but again questions the value of money and art.

Richard Long, A Smell of Sulphur Wind, 1945

This is a photograph took by Richard Long, Bill Drummond bought this photograph for 20,000 dollars, he then wanted to interview Richard Long. However he declined the offer as he felt Bill wasnt intellectual enough and wouldnt understand the piece as he isnt part of the elite of High Culture.

  

So Bill Drummond became disenchanted with the piece , he cut it up into 20,000 pieces representing each dollar he'd spent he then sold each piece and still does. This is a big question of the value art. And the attitudes of High Culture.