The Death of Post Modernism

[Otto]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ghetta Life" <ghetta_outta at hotmail.com>
To: <ottosell at yahoo.de>; <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2004 4:54 PM
Subject: Re: The Death of Post Modernism


>
> >From: "Otto" <ottosell at yahoo.de>
> >
> >What comes after post-modernism? As long as it hasn't been understood by
> >more people than it has I think it still has something to tell. As long
as
> >the majority of the people haven't realised at all that there has been a
> >philosophical movement of that name (at least until 1989/90) and that
we're
> >indeed living in times very different from the first half of the 20th
> >century I don't think that a real development can take place.
>
> I don't think the "majority of the people" have much to do with new
> movements in art.  But I do believe in a prevailing mood which usually
first
> manifests itself in the works of artists across the spectrum of media
> (Zeitgeist).  Your comments seem to link these kinds of developments with
> some kind of political awareness, which isn't my view either.  But I can
see
> your point in that post-modernism reflects a large amount of cynicism
> resulting from a disillusionment in an "ideal" belief, whether political
or
> otherwise.  But at a certain point - and I think we have reached that
point
> - cynicism becomes tiring and counter-productive, and reveals itself to be
> empty.
>

Thanks for your thoughtful response.

Watching my environment I don't think that many people care for arts or a
development of every kind, but what I see is that our theatre ( in terms of
architecture a truly postmodern monster with a classicist original part, the
60's modern addition and the 90's postmodern extension) still is fighting an
ongoing fight between modern classics like "Waiting for Godot" and the
boulevard-theatre the subscribers want.

> But where do we go from here?  THAT'S the big question.  Clearly a
yearning
> exists for a return to a more idealistic view of technology and a
visionary
> future.

Is it really?

> But not with the naiveté of the early moderns.

Given the things we've seen of course with some luddite suspicion . . .

> As I said earlier
> "Neo-Modernism" seems to be taking hold at least in architecture.  It may
> just be another form of retro-nostalgia, but I don't think so.   I'm not
> sure how that translates into the other arts.  I think one manifestation
> will be the decline of Andy Warhol's POPism (virtually dripping in
cynicism)

Is Warhol really only cynical? Doesn't "pop" in arts mean that we've ended
the preterite role of "high art"? Putting "Marilyn" into every living room
and moving "Campbell's" from the Safeway to the Museum of Modern Art?

>   in the visual arts, and maybe the resurgence of "painting."
>

But what does "painting" mean in this sense? Mimetic images instead of
abstracts?

Monumental painting by Werner Tübke
"Frühbürgerliche Revolution in Deutschland"
( in Germany, 1983 - 1987, oil on canvas, 14 x 123 metres)

"Although much time has passed
since the completion of the
panorama painting- the painting
was signed on 16 October 1987 -
this painting still inflames passions
and provokes controversial debates
over the role, place, and values of
contemporary art."
http://www.panorama-museum.de/html/monumental_painting.html

Iconographical this monumental painting is a large collection of quotes from
the sixteenth century, woodcarvings from Dürer and contemporary artists from
the period the Tübke-painting is about. Tübke has managed it to fit a lot of
those quotes neatly into that giant painting, the style itself (panorama
painting) an anachronism from a much later period, the 19th century. For me
it's just postmodern.

The title is the original-DDR-title, but there have been attempts after
1989/90 to change it to "Bauerkriegspanorama" to make it more fitting to the
fact that Western Germany nomenclatura had won -- note the difference: while
we in the West were told about the "Bauernkrieg" 1524 in our history lessons
the DDR had called that period "Early Bourgeois Revolution."

The Peasants' War of 1524-26
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peasants%27_War

> Oh well, just musing...

Love it when you do that.

O.