Post-Modern Art & Literature It’s like they’re playing in the ruins of a once-great civilization!

Modern Art

Post-Modern Art

What is Post-Modernism? The rallying cry for Modernism was “Make it new!” Artists were supposed to challenge conventions, challenge authority (religion & government), and search for meaning in a possibly pointless universe. NOTE: Modernists did believe that the truth was out there, it just wasn’t what social norms always dictated. Post-Modernism is what happened after the artists of the 1890’s to 1950’s were done questioning everything. The Post-Modernists concluded, “There is no absolute truth and everything is subjective…so…now what?”

What are the Big Ideas of Post- Modernism?

There is no absolute truth. Everything changes – Our values are based on social conventions, and since society is always changing, so are our values. Just look at the way our views on inter-racial marriage, homosexuality, women’s rights, rock & roll, and more have changed over time. Unlike Modernists, Post- Modern artists are so over worrying about this.

Nothing is binary. Post-Modernists particularly defy the notion of binaries (male and female, black and white, gay and straight, etc.). Post-Modernist stories are about characters living with these divisions. The wrong way to live is by blind obedience to the binary.

Art is Self-Aware. Post-Modern artists are keenly aware of their role as artists. – Pomo Artists create art that openly refers back to previous artwork. – Pomo Art is often tied with the identities and egos of the artists and writers (such as painters like Damien Hirst or Andy Warhol or writers like Hunter S. Thompson). – Pomo Art is just another part of consumer culture, and Pomo Art both criticizes “selling out” and is in constant pursuit of it. – Pomo Art questions the role of the artist in an age where art can be mass-produced and a camera can make a better picture than a painter ever could.

Curb your enthusiasm. Cynicism & Irony – While earlier artists challenged convention with an almost romantic optimism, post- modernism is far more jaded. Remember, it’s a philosophy born out of World War II, Vietnam, and the great failure of the 1960’s Counter-Culture movement. It’s also an artistic movement born in the Information Age. You get information far faster, and nothing stays new or shocking for long.

The Importance of Expression A lot of post-modern art is about the act of making art. It’s “meta.” Post-Modernists believe that art has value in itself, regardless of what it’s for. Pomos believe that you have to tell your story, even if your story is an ugly one. Expression might be all that matters, since truth is relative. Keep this one in mind when you read The Things They Carried!

We are connected in ways that we don’t even realize. Not all of Post- Modernism is negative. Post-Modernist texts often include characters going through broken, separate narratives that still weave into a grand whole. In the end, our lives intersect more often than not, so maybe it’s not all pointless. Maybe there is meaning everywhere. It’s just up to each of us to find our own…