Off the WallPerformance and Installation Art

ClassicalIdeals based on Humanism

MedievalSuperstition

RenaissanceReturn to Humanism

Age of Enlightenmentand the belief that we can

understand the world through reason

RomanticismWorld cannot be known solely through reason

RealismReality dominates over Ideals

ModernismLoss of faith in tradition

New forms neededOriginal and individual

Post-ModernismApparent realities only social

constructsNo absolute truth

Perception of world subjective

What the heck is modernism?

Pre – Modern eraSociety

Agrarian – wealth and labor derived from agriculture and trading. Population centered in rural areas.

What the heck is modernism?Modern era

SocietyIndustrial – wealth and labor derived from manufacturing. Population centered in cities.

What the heck is post-modernism?Post - Modern era

SocietyInformation – Information and service industries overtake manufacturing. Global citizens.

What the heck is modernism?Pre-Modern Era

PoliticsMonarchies and Empires – People ruled by royal families and empires extend beyond ethnic borders.

What the heck is modernism?Modern era

PoliticsRevolution – people displace royals with democratic or socialist forms of governments.

What the heck is post-modernism?Post - Modern era

PoliticsGlobalization – nation-states lose sovereignty due to trading and internet. Free flow of information and goods.

What the heck is modernism?Pre-Modern Era

ScienceNewton’s Laws – Physical laws are fixed and immutable

What the heck is modernism?Modern era

ScienceEinstein’s Relativity – Not all objects in universe follow

Newton’s laws.

What the heck is post-modernism?Post - Modern era

ScienceCybernetics – Non-linear systems and interconnectivity of life.

What the heck is modernism?Pre-Modern Era

PsychologyAssociative - Sensory Input + Repetition = Ideas

What the heck is modernism?Modern era

PsychologyExamination of the make-up of personality – Conscious + Unconscious = Self

What the heck is post-modernism?Post - Modern era

PsychologyRelativism – I’m OK, You’re OK. - People made up of many “selves”.

What the heck is modernism?Pre-Modern Era

ArtRepresentational Approach – art’s value rests in how closely it mirrors nature

What the heck is modernism?Modern era

ArtExpressive Approach – art’s value rests in how it allows for

individual expression and originality

What the heck is post-modernism?Post - Modern era

ArtProcess Approach – no originality in end product – process is the important element

Major Thinkers who epitomized the Pre-Modern Ideal

In 1687 Sir Issac Newton developed the theory of gravitation and the three laws of motion which dominated scientific theory for the next three centuries. His ideas help lead to the conclusion that the world could be know n through reason and that the universe operated by a set of natural laws which could be known and were consistent.

Immanuel Kant, famous for the quote “I think therefore I am” believed that all knowledge comes through experience. His ideas bolstered the Scientific Revolution by asserting that reason and experience should be the basis for conclusions.

Leonardo Da Vinci was a artist, scientist, scholar, inventor and poet. He epitomized what became known as the Renaissance Man – someone who was expert in many fields.

Major Thinkers who epitomized the Modernist Ideal

In physics, Albert Einstein puts forth the idea that electromagnetic waves do not conform to the laws of motion put forth by Isaac Newton. This is part of his Theory of Relativity.

In psychology Sigmund Freud postulates a theory that personality is made up of subjective, interacting layers. Psychoanalysis is the technique Freud developed to treat patients by bringing thoughts buried in the subconscious back into conscious awareness.

Pablo Picasso develops a form of abstract painting that tries to paint all aspects of something simultaneously. This style of painting comes to be known as Cubism because of its shattered, geometric look. Picasso, and others, were trying to represent things as they are not how they look.

Major Thinkers who epitomized the Post-Modernist Ideal

Norbert Wiener develops the concept of Cybernetics. It is the study of communication and control, typically involving regulatory feedback in living organisms, machines and organizations, as well as their combinations. This idea will affect all the sciences, especially mathematics, biology and ecology.

In literary criticism, Jacques Derrida develops a method known as Deconstruction which states that no writing can be independent of the cultural bias implicit in language. What’s not written is just as important as what is.

Marcel Duchamp, along with the other Dada artists started the notion that art was bankrupt and hence dead. He took art from the sensory (visual) to the conceptual (idea). Subsequent artists, in trying to revive art, focused on the process rather than the final product as the important element in art.

So what does this mean for art?

Modern Art Post Modern Art

Formal - art for art’s sake Art must relate to social conditions

Images are unique productions of individual artists

Art is a reworking, recycling and transforming of ideas from many sources

Art is apolitical and reflects a “universal truth”

Art is contextual and reflects the cultural norms of the maker

High art shows that culture in progressing forward

Acceptance of cultural conflict – Good/bad dichotomy reflect bias from the group in control

The meaning of the art is absolute Many meanings possible

Formal - art for art’s sakeArt must relate to social conditions

Modern

Post- Modern

Images are unique productions of individual artists

Art is a reworking, recycling and transforming of ideas from many sources

Modern

Post- Modern

Art is apolitical and reflects a “universal truth”

Art is contextual and reflects the cultural norms of the maker

Modern

Post- Modern

High art shows that culture in progressing forward

Acceptance of cultural conflict – Good/bad dichotomy reflect bias from the group in control

Modern

Post- Modern

The meaning of the art is absolute

Many meanings possible

Modern

Post- Modern

Michelangelo, David, 1504

Robert Delauney, title unknown, 1915

Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, 1917

Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp as Rrose Selavy, 1921

Kurt Scwhitters, Merzbau, 1925

Yves Klein, Anthropometric, 1960(?)

Yves Klein, A Leap Into the Void, 1960

Allan Kaprow, A Happening, 1962

Allan Kaprow, The Courtyard, New York City, 1962

Allan Kaprow, Yard, 1961

Claus Oldenburg, The Store, 1959

Claus Oldenburg, The Store, 1959

Joseph Beuys, How To Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare, 1965

Joseph Beuys, Infiltration homogen für Konzertflügel (Homogeneous Infiltration for Piano), 1966

Joseph Beuys, The Pack, 1969

Ed Kienholtz, The Birthday, 1964

Ed Keinholz, Back Seat Dodge ’38, 1964

Chris Burden, 110, 1971

Chris Burden, Shoot, 1972

Chris Burden, Transfixed, 1974

Chris Burden, All the Submarines of the United States, 1987

Marina Abramovic, Rhythm 10, 1973

Marina Abramovic, Rest Energy, 1980

Marina Abramovic, Relation in Time, 1997 17 hrs

Marina Abramovic, The Artist is Present, 2011

Yoko Ono, Ceiling Painting (Yes Painting),

Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, 1964

Yoko Ono, Take a Piece of the Sky

Yoko Ono, Wish Tree, 2009

Eva Hesse, Repitition Nineteen, 1968

Eva Hesse, Untitled (Rope Piece), 1970

Barbara Kruger, Exhibition, 1991

Barbara Kruger, Pleasure, Desire, Disgust, 1997

Paul McCarthy, Painter, 1995

Paul McCarthy, Pirate Party, 2005

Christian Boltansky, Das ungeordnete Leben von Maxim Vallentin, 2005.

Christian Boltansky

Christian Boltansky

Marcel Broodthaers, Papa, 1961

Marcel Broodthaers, White Cabinet, 1965

Marcel Broodthaers, La Salle blanche, 1975

Yolanda Lopez, title unknown, 1985

Christo, Running Fence, 1972-76

Christo, Wrapped Reichstag, Munich, 1995

Christo, Wrapped Trees, 1997-98

Christo, Gates, Central Park, 2006

< Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing #146, September 1972.

Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing No. 681 C, 1993

Sol Lewitt, Wall Drawing # 1042 (Isometric Form), 2002

Sol Lewitt, Wall Drawing #1183, 2005

Tony Cragg, Aeroplane, 1995

Brett Peterson, 2005

Deborah Warner, Spellbound, 2004

Gabriela Tzebinski, Matutu Project

Ian Baxter, Animal Preserve

Ilya Kabakov, The Man Who Flew Into Space From His Apartment, 1968-1996

Ilya Kabakov, The Man Who Flew Into Space From His Apartment, 1968-1996

Ilya Kabakov

Burton McKenzie

Jason Roderick, Remind Me, 2005

Jurgen Staake, Missing Pictures…Left Behind,

Adina Bar-On, Disposition Chinese , 2001

Leung Mee-ping , Memorize the Future, 1998 - 2006