Modernism and Postmodernism in Art
WARNING! The following is a
formalist essay with lots of big werds. I mean words. Don't look for humour or magic here. This is purely researched and informative shit. Thankyou.
Introduction
The '
age of enlightenment' brought about a huge shift in thinking, with people putting more and more confidence in
science to the point where it was used as an
answer to practically everything. The
dream that science would solve all questions led to the rejection of powerful institutions (such as the
church and the
bourgeois hierarchy of society) that had previously been in control of the generally uncertain
populace of the time.
This break from tradition that we now call Modernism is evident in the art of the period as we started to see a huge reduction of works that were produced on
commission (either for the church or the
wealthy) and a rise in works that were produced for the benefit of the individual
artist him/herself or for some kind of '
greater good'.
The
motivation of Modernist artists has been put down to the
belief in the '
meta-narrative' (a term coined by Postmodern
philosopher Jean-François Lyotard), that is, a great
notion that bonds and aggregates '
reality', and rationalises the reasons behind society’s power structures.
"Our factories are our substitute for religious expression."
~ Charles Sheeler.
Artists became interested in science and industry to search for an answer or 'truth' to reality. Science allowed people to arrange things into little labelled boxes. We started to see various groups of artists emerging, each with their own particular 'vision' or 'narrative' of the truth.
Cubists such as
Braque and
Picasso used the science of
geometry to break down three-dimensional '
real' objects to find their true forms on the
canvas.
Salvador Dali and the
Surrealists concentrated their efforts solely on their own
subconscious experiments.
Matisse used colour as his
vehicle.
Cezanne seemed consumed by
light and
form.
Balla and
Boccioni were busy composing their
Futurist manifestos.
All Modernist artists tried to convince the world of their own particular vision of
reality. And although there were many wonderful ideas and
innovations surfacing at the time, not everyone shared them. The very nature of the meta-narrative is
self-governing and wholly
independent. The Modernists had a very
autonomous mindset. Artists were concerned mainly with developing their own work and
ideas. Art critics of the day viewed art just as
discreetly, making
inferences on the greater meaning of the art rather than its place in
society and it’s relation to historical influences, intentional or otherwise.
"I shall call modern(ism) the art which devotes it little technical expertise...
to present the fact that the unpresentable exists."
~ Jean-François Lyotard.
As the name implies, Postmodernism is directly related to Modernism. It is difficult to pinpoint when Postmodernism first came about, but the term became used widely amongst the art community during the 1970s, when its adoption by Lyotard and Jürgen Habermas first gave the idea of Postmodernism a broader circulation. Like Modernism, Postmodernism isn’t an art movement as such, but rather a philosophy and a cultural term that has made its way into all areas of society, including the arts.
Although the applications of Postmodernism have been
tried and true, some
cynicism still surrounds its usage, mainly because of the artistic
buzzword that it has become today. Calling something '
Postmodern' can mean a multitude of things. There is no definitive
framework for what the Postmodern should be. Nor will there ever be, for this is the very nature of Postmodernism. I suppose the most
certain thing one could say about Postmodernism is that it is definitely not Modernism.
Art History & Modernism / Postmodernism
There is the view that all Modernists attempted to
creatio ex nihilo, that is, create art out of nothing, ignoring
historical influences altogether. However, even though Modernist artists did break away from
tradition, they still held onto
ties with the past.
In an essay titled "Modern and Postmodern",
art critic Clement Greenberg recants the view that Modernism ignores history. Instead, he offers the view that Modernism simply looks at the past in a different way from the
romantics (of which Modernism was also a reaction against).
Says Greenberg (1979), "It wasn't a question of
imitating but one of
emulating - just as it had been for the
Renaissance with respect to
antiquity." Modern artists used history as a means for creating something new, such as
Matisse and Picasso being influenced by
Islamic and
North African art.
These views have become broader and more common in the Postmodern art of the past 30 – 40 years. Historical influences are now widely embraced and accepted in all forms of art.
George Lucas'
Star Wars movies showcase a large amount of fanciful
architecture and costumes, all of which have some historical grounding of one type or another. The
Queen’s palace and wardrobe in
The Phantom Menace (1999) is a highly stylised version of the
Art-Nuevo movement, while the
battle droids are reminiscent of traditional African
sculpture. Perhaps even subconsciously, the viewer recognises the historical references and latches on, giving the fantastical ideas more grounding in the real world.
Ideas of Truth in Art
While Modernists search for truth by detaching themselves from history and the
popular culture, Postmodernists jump in and
immerse themselves. For Modernists, truth is in the meta-narrative, the grand
legend of
certainty in an uncertain world.
Modernist artist Charles Sheeler is an example of this. Almost all of Sheeler’s work is strongly related to industry and the '
machine age' that was becoming more predominant during the early
20th century. His famous photographs of the
Ford plant in River Rouge seem fixed on the idea that industry would be the '
saving grace' of his lifetime. Sheeler was a stern Modernist with a narrative that he remained faithful to.
"In contemporary society and culture — postindustrial society, postmodern culture —
...the grand narrative has lost its credibility, regardless of what mode of unification it uses,
regardless of whether it is a speculative narrative or a narrative of emancipation."
~ Jean-François Lyotard
Postmodernists find many truths by letting the influence of history and pop-culture have an effect on their art. Postmodernists have their eyes open to as much as they possibly can. To say that a work of art is completely detached from its surrounding world is to deny the real truths of reality. I say truths (plural) because whereas a Modernist sees only one truth, a Postmodernist finds many traces of truth in numerous ideas. The Postmodernist does not dismiss ideas because they differ or contradict. Instead, the Postmodernist has the ability to look at ranges of ideas objectively.
In one of
Jon Swihart’s Untitled paintings (1990), he shows us a man clad in a mix-match of
fragmented items descending a mountain. The man is on a quest for truth in a Postmodern world. He has taken with him a
fusion of
disjointed objects, but together his garb is almost
religious,
cultish even. Swihart’s Postmodern man is a testament to a vision of many truths in the Postmodern society.
While Modernism tends to have clear cut perceptions on what it deems 'true', a lot of Postmodern art likes to play around with the truth. Take
John Madden’s
Shakespeare in Love (1998). The basic storyline of the movie is obviously
fiction, yet it uses
characters,
events and
literature that all occurred in
real-life history. The result makes for a compelling watch in which the viewer is constantly
questioning the truth. It is a very Postmodern technique to get fact and fiction mixed up on purpose, because with Postmodernism, there is no one truth – there are no certainties or absolutes.
The Perception of Art
Viewing art in a Modernist fashion does tend to remove it from social
milieus that may conflict with its intended narrative. The Postmodern view reverses this, and takes into consideration all of the
social,
political and historical contexts that may have influenced or have been influenced by the art. Postmodernists reject the 'autonomous art' idea of Modernism. All of the
themes,
images and
languages used in art (Modernist or otherwise) have been fashioned by
culture. The very materials used to produce art have been
shaped by society.
The Modernist 'way' also narrowed art’s prospective audience. In many ways, Modernist art could be considered
pretentious and somewhat snobbish. Only
studious art critics and those with a sound understanding of Modernist ideals could explore art deeper.
The general public were not well equipped enough to deal with art during the Modernist period, which is why many people associate Modernists with the artistic '
elite'.
The Postmodern view of art is much more varied. Differing opinions are common because they are
encouraged. Anyone can have a
valid opinion on a piece of art. Picasso’s first blatantly
cubist paintings were not as well received in
America as they were in
Europe. But today, it has become much harder to
shock the Postmodern audience because the range of different art out there has
conditioned the public to be more widely accepting. Art is made to be
provocative and art is made to be
interpreted.
Whereas Modernist artworks are often '
windows' into their own particular narratives, Postmodern art is consistently
self aware. Viewing art in a Postmodern way means acknowledging first and foremost that the art was
constructed. At its
bare bones it is simply
paint on a canvas, or what have you.
In the all of
Quentin Tarantino's films, he intentionally inserts little inconsistencies. In
Reservoir Dogs (1992) we see the character '
Mr. White' (
Harvey Keitel) pull out a cigarette and smoke it without even lighting it. In the chronologically disjointed
Pulp Fiction (1994), the same
coffee shop scene is shown twice, but one of the lines is different from the first time we hear it.
Tarantino does this to remind the audience that they are watching a
film. It's an immediate
snap back into reality, where the viewer has no choice but to forget about being immersed in the screen for a second and look at the film objectively.
Wrapping Up
Modern (in the
chronological sense) society's search for the truth has evolved from a very concentrated and hidebound approach, to a much more flexible and all-inclusive
attitude. In art we see both the applications of ideas (such as Sheeler and the Star Wars concepts) and commentaries on them (demonstrated by Swihart's piece). That is why art is the perfect viewing ground for the society-changing
mindsets of Modernism and Postmodernism.
_______________________________________________________________________
If you read this, thanks. If you just skipped to the end, I don't blame you.
_______________________________________________________________________
Sources:
Danto, AC 1997, After the End of Art: Contemporary Art and the Pale of History, Princeton University Press, New Jersey
Dawtrey, L, Jackson, T, Masterton, M, Meecham, P & Wood, P (eds) 1996, Investigating Modern Art, Yale University Press, England
Fitzgerald, MC 1995, Making Modernism: Picasso and the Creation of the Market for Twentieth Century Art, University of California Press, Los Angeles, California
Greenberg, C 1979, Modern and Postmodern, William Dobell Memorial Lecture, Sydney
Lyotard, JF 1984 The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, Manchester University Press, Manchester
Pulp Fiction 1994, DVD video
Reservoir Dogs 1992, DVD video
Rise of Modernism, The (No Year), College of Marin, California