🥁Intro to Art Unit 11 – Contemporary Art: Postmodern & Performance

Key Concepts and Definitions

• Postmodernism rejects the idea of a single, universal truth or grand narrative and instead embraces multiple perspectives, interpretations, and realities
• Deconstruction is a critical approach that seeks to uncover the underlying assumptions, contradictions, and power structures within a text or artwork
  • Involves questioning the stability of meaning and challenging traditional hierarchies and binary oppositions (high/low art, original/copy)
• Appropriation is the practice of borrowing, copying, or reusing existing images, objects, or elements from popular culture in the creation of new artworks
• Simulacrum refers to a copy or representation that has no original or reality behind it, blurring the lines between the real and the artificial
• Intertextuality is the relationship between texts, artworks, or ideas, acknowledging the influence and interconnectedness of cultural production
• Pastiche is the imitation or combination of various styles, genres, or elements from different sources, often in a playful or ironic manner
• Conceptual art prioritizes the idea or concept behind the artwork over its visual or material properties, challenging traditional notions of art and aesthetics
• Performance art is a live, ephemeral art form that involves the artist's body, actions, and presence as the medium, often blurring the boundaries between art and life

Historical Context and Influences

• Postmodernism emerged in the late 20th century as a reaction against the principles and values of modernism, which emphasized progress, originality, and universal truths
• The aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust led to a questioning of the Enlightenment ideals of reason, progress, and human perfectibility
• The rise of mass media, consumer culture, and globalization in the post-war period contributed to the blurring of boundaries between high and low art
• The civil rights, feminist, and LGBTQ+ movements of the 1960s and 1970s challenged traditional power structures and advocated for greater diversity and inclusion in art and society
• Poststructuralist theories, such as those of Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, influenced postmodern art by emphasizing the instability of meaning and the role of language in shaping reality
• The advent of new technologies, such as video and digital media, expanded the possibilities for artistic expression and challenged traditional notions of authorship and originality

Major Artists and Movements

• Andy Warhol and the Pop Art movement appropriated images from popular culture and mass media, blurring the lines between art and commerce
  • Warhol's silkscreen prints of celebrities and consumer products (Campbell's Soup Cans) challenged the notion of the unique, original artwork
• Cindy Sherman's "Untitled Film Stills" series (1977-1980) explores the construction of female identity through the appropriation and subversion of Hollywood film tropes
• Barbara Kruger's text-based works combine bold graphics with provocative slogans to critique consumerism, gender roles, and power structures
• The Pictures Generation, including artists such as Richard Prince and Sherrie Levine, used appropriation and rephotography to question the authenticity and originality of images
• Marina Abramović's performance pieces, such as "Rhythm 0" (1974) and "The Artist is Present" (2010), explore the boundaries between artist and audience, and the physical and emotional limits of the body
• The Young British Artists (YBAs), including Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin, gained prominence in the 1990s for their controversial and often shocking works that challenged traditional art forms and institutions

Postmodern Art Characteristics

• Rejection of grand narratives and universal truths in favor of multiple perspectives and interpretations
• Blurring of boundaries between high and low art, and between different artistic disciplines and media
• Appropriation and recontextualization of images, objects, and styles from various sources, often in an ironic or critical manner
• Emphasis on the idea or concept behind the artwork, rather than its visual or material properties
• Questioning of the notion of originality and authorship, and the embrace of copies, reproductions, and simulacra
• Engagement with social, political, and cultural issues, often through the lens of identity, gender, race, and power
• Use of new technologies and media, such as video, installation, and digital art, to expand the possibilities of artistic expression
• Playful, ironic, and self-referential approach to art-making, often incorporating elements of pastiche, parody, and humor

Performance Art: Theory and Practice

• Performance art emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as a means of challenging traditional art forms and institutions, and exploring the relationship between art and life
• Emphasis on the artist's body, actions, and presence as the medium, often involving physical endurance, risk, or transgression
• Blurring of boundaries between art and life, and between performer and audience, often involving audience participation or interaction
• Exploration of identity, gender, sexuality, and social and political issues through the lens of the artist's personal experience and embodiment
• Use of unconventional spaces and contexts, such as public spaces, galleries, or site-specific locations, to challenge the institutional framework of art
• Ephemeral and time-based nature of performance art, often documented through photographs, videos, or written accounts, but resisting commodification and objectification
• Influence of avant-garde movements, such as Dada, Surrealism, and Fluxus, on the development of performance art as a means of subverting artistic conventions and expectations

Media and Techniques

• Appropriation of images, objects, and styles from popular culture, mass media, and art history, often through the use of photography, video, or digital manipulation
• Installation art involves the creation of immersive, site-specific environments that engage the viewer's senses and spatial experience
  • Often incorporates a variety of media, such as sculpture, video, sound, and light, to create a cohesive and meaningful whole
• Video art emerged in the 1960s as a means of exploring the artistic potential of the moving image, often used to critique television and mass media, or to explore personal and political narratives
• Digital art encompasses a wide range of practices that use computer technology as a tool or medium, including computer graphics, animation, interactive art, and net art
• Conceptual art prioritizes the idea or concept behind the artwork, often using language, documentation, or instructions as the primary medium
  • Examples include Sol LeWitt's wall drawings, which are executed by others following his written instructions, and Joseph Kosuth's "One and Three Chairs" (1965), which presents a physical chair, a photograph of the chair, and a dictionary definition of the word "chair"
• Performance art often incorporates a variety of media and techniques, such as spoken word, music, dance, and visual elements, to create a multisensory and immersive experience

Critical Analysis and Interpretation

• Postmodern art challenges traditional methods of art criticism and interpretation, which often relied on formal analysis, authorial intent, and historical context
• Deconstruction is used to uncover the underlying assumptions, contradictions, and power structures within an artwork or text, often by questioning the stability of meaning and challenging binary oppositions
• Appropriation and intertextuality require a consideration of the relationship between the artwork and its sources, and the ways in which meaning is transformed or subverted through the act of borrowing or recontextualization
• The concept of the simulacrum challenges the notion of the authentic or original artwork, requiring a reconsideration of the value and significance of copies, reproductions, and representations
• Feminist and postcolonial theories offer critical perspectives on the representation of gender, race, and identity in postmodern art, often by challenging dominant narratives and power structures
• The ephemeral and time-based nature of performance art requires a different approach to documentation, interpretation, and preservation, often emphasizing the experiential and embodied aspects of the work
• The role of the viewer in the construction of meaning is emphasized in postmodern art, requiring a more active and participatory mode of engagement and interpretation

Impact on Contemporary Culture

• Postmodern art has had a significant influence on contemporary visual culture, blurring the boundaries between art, popular culture, and mass media
• The strategies of appropriation, pastiche, and irony have become widespread in advertising, fashion, and graphic design, often used to create a sense of nostalgia, humor, or social commentary
• The emphasis on multiple perspectives and the questioning of grand narratives has contributed to a more diverse and inclusive art world, with greater representation of marginalized voices and experiences
• The use of new technologies and media in postmodern art has paved the way for the development of digital art, interactive media, and virtual reality, expanding the possibilities for artistic expression and audience engagement
• Performance art has influenced contemporary theater, dance, and music, often by challenging traditional forms and conventions, and emphasizing the physical and experiential aspects of live performance
• The critical and theoretical approaches of postmodernism have had a lasting impact on art education and scholarship, encouraging a more interdisciplinary and contextual approach to the study of art and visual culture
• Postmodern art has contributed to a broader cultural shift towards a more skeptical, ironic, and self-reflexive sensibility, often characterized by a playful and subversive attitude towards established norms and values