The course FACS has taught me a lot about the different arts and how they can be analyzed through different perspectives such as Dadaism, Marxism, Modernism, and Post-Modernism. I have finally learned the accurate way of describing an artwork and what needs to be provided within the analysis—subject matter, form, medium and style.
So what is post-modernism really? A broad definition would be “A late 20th Century style and conceptual theory in the arts and architecture, characterized by a general distrust of ideologies as well as a rather 'difficult' relationship with what constitutes art.” But what does that exactly mean? There is no right or wrong way to define and understand post-modernism because there are just so many concepts to grasp your head around. However, there are a few terms that help define post-modernism such as: skepticism, appropriation, fragmentation, anti-foundationalism and pastiche.
One of the underlying factors behind what makes post-modernist art is the insufficient amount of originality that goes behind the making of the work. What I mean by this is that many of the post-modern works are just replicas of an artwork that was originally created by a recognized figure and that earns twice the amount of money because it is something new. If we take for example the work of the artist Salvador Dali “The Melting Clocks” and compare it with a parody of an artwork that features the Simpsons; we can see the similarities and differences between the two works but we have this notion that we have seen something similar to it before. In contemporary post-modern art, there is always a need to have something up-to-the-minute and that is what these new artists are trying to capture within their art.
All in all, I hope my blog bestows some insight as to what constitutes the fine and performing arts and what best defines post-modernism. Have fun exploring new topics because there is just so much out there to learn. Best of luck to everyone on the exam J
