Today i’ve been in a lecture about modern era and what happened afterwords. Artists and philosophers learned the world was changing from the modern era into something else and they called Postmodernism. The dumb truth is that everything that came after the modern era is pos modern. So what happened is that after that other changes happened as well and there was no appropriate name for is as they were also pos modern. Enough about names what interested me in postmodernism is the idea that differently from the modern era that was obsessed with time postmodern society is obsessed with space. We don’t produce Picassos anymore and artists are not made to last centuries in history. What we have now is the search for transformation and the necessity to blend. We don’t present a painting anymore. We make an installation and mix it with some photos and sculpture. We prepare a space to become an experience. That is not just about art. In the modern it was all about time and progress and technology. Cars had to be faster. More expensive. Now its about space and care. Cars have to pollute less. In other hand is an era where individuality and memory are loosing importance. History is less known and people live for the moment. The past and the future are not that important. We don’t need to know history. We google it. We don’t need to know how to cook that particular recipe. We look of it in a blog. We don’t need to remember of a melody. We search it on youtube. What i learned is that post modern is not a place you want to be. Is where things are fading. Where houses are made to last 20 years and not 500 years and the old castles built in renaissance. It appears our legacy for the future generations is the personal computer and the internet. Technology. The art we are producing will probably fade soon. The architecture we are building will fade soon. The register of our generation will be really poor.
Your posts are always really interesting. They come at things from unexpected angles, and very often leave me saying, I never thought of that! I never looked at it that way —
And then I start thinking.
That’s a big gift, giulas —
Thank you.
Wow…Thank you very much my friend!!!
There really makes want to write more!!!
Here’s my take for what it’s worth. The PostModern period is a transitional period – there may not be much worth putting in the history books, but then, transitional periods hardly ever going into books. What I mean is that the time we’re going through now is like moving from the Renaissance to the Industrial Age. Huge changes. And that’s what’s happening now except we don’t know what to call going from the Industrial Age – which we’re leaving behind – into….well, we don’t know into what. Technology, yes, but what else? That’s exciting to me. What are we moving into? The chaos is easier to see (it’s really front and center) but another consciousness is growing. I can see it in the Millenium students now hitting my classroom. I don’t know where we’re going, but these kids have a good hand and are wise beyond their years BECAUSE they have access to so much information. Just my perspective. GB Shaw, the English playwrite, said the next leap in human evolution will be an evolution in consciousness. Hegal said much the same. I can feel the leap standing at the doorstep!
Great comment Janet!!! I loved it and i didn’t know you were so interested on the subject. I agree we are in a transitional period and i’m glad you are noticing hope in new generations. It’s not just that chaos is easier to see. It’s probably the “getting older” issue. I can’t see humans with hard drives hooked up in their brains more and more sedentary and fat even if their brains is much more developed. The need to full happiness no matter what and the monetary system forcing us to be faster and faster don’t help either. So i believe we are not in the right track and it will take a major change to get there. I’m just not sure what kind of change. If we’re talking about wars and things like the end of the world of a big development of our capacity to understand the world. I vote for the end of money as it is…
I don’t think it’s wars so much – although they do occur – what I’m seeing is a different consciousness around money. For example, ten or fifteen years ago when I asked students what they wanted, they’d say, “I want to make a lot of money.” I haven’t heard that since before the 2008 downturn. For example, many of the students I have today say they want their families to be happy or safe, they want to make a difference in the world, they want to design eco-friendly whatever things – cars, wind energy, etc. And yes, there are still angry young people re: Norway. And there are still problems re: the Sudan. But in my small micro view of the world, these young people have a different relationship with money. They talk about saving, not spending. And they talk about healthy eathing and removing chemicals from their diets. They educate each other. It’s just interesting to see this new generation.
True…I see that on my kids too… Lol (the assistants that works with me)… But there’s a confrontation with the money system because this system demands growth so there can’t be people spending less… That means financial crisis. These institutions get broken and these kids that have nothing to do with it will pay the bill in taxes and inflation. That’s how the system is working. inflation and crisis… over and over… They will need to confront this to be free… that’s maybe a big change… one i’m in for 🙂
Yes, you’re absolutely correct… I guess I’m in for “hope” most of the time. Change is a given, and a given I like, while hope, well, that has to be cultivated, I suppose – or maybe not. I’ve been accused of being a Pollyanna which may mean absolutely nothing to you as it’s a character in a 1913 book who’s always optimistic and is now used to describe a person’s state of mind – which I probably have, truth be told!
Lol… I know what Pollyanna means (or who she is) !!! It’s a given on a society full of North american cultural references like mine and almost all in the third world… So let’s hope and see what happens…
A most engaging entry, and a powerful finishing sentence which pretty much felt like a bit of a slap in the face. And when confronted with the thought of our transient existence, I feel a sad compulsion to make something that might last mixed with the notion that whatever I might do, it will have been done already! 😉 Postmodernism is a highly interesting idea for me, but I don’t know if I enjoy it. I feel wistful for the high reaching artistry and endurance of the past.
Me too!!! I don’t enjoy living in post modern era. Nobody does i guess… but we do. I believe endurance is something everybody looks for. It has to do with immortality… or the desire of it…
So right that it saddens me. The new generation is all about quick fix, instant gratification, and yes, high tech art and equipment that seriously seem to change every year. We need to teach our your real art, to value the past, to find joy in challenges, to bring creativity to its full potential. Great post. May we all learn from it.
I’m trying my friend…but as the really clever Steve Jobs say: “we live in a world with too much noise”… so let’s try to focus and surely we’ll be able to make it!