*Postmodernism can be defined as the feeling that there are no more possibilities, no space for originality or creativity*
Modernism is progressive, whereupon people felt that the rules were unlimited.
-Initially born out of optimism, an aspirational reaction to WWI, with a view to harness technology to improve people's lives.
-However, it ends up doctrinaire, almost a blind obidence to rules.
-"form follows function" becoming a uniformed phrase, rule, and state of mind.
Le Corbusier's architecture was quintessentially modern in design- removing humanity or individuality with a utopian aspiration.
Modernism is associated with...
-Experimentation
-Innovation
-Individualism
-Progress
-Purity
-Originality
-Seriousness
Post-Modernism is associated with the complete opposite, yet formed in response to the Modernist movement directly. Post- Modernism doubted progress with the viewpoint that "everything's been done already".
The Postmodern condition is characterised by:
-The feeling of being "fed up" with technology, reflecting upon negativity within innovation.
-Pessimism, Having not yet been saved by technology, and the idea that it has, infact, made our lives worse.
-Exhaustion
-Pluralism
-Disillusionment with the idea of absolute knowledge.
-Fundamentally, Postmodernism is linked to Modernism, but rather than a celebration it's a pessimistic commiseration of the Modernist movement and Modernity.
Jean Tinguely's 1960 'Homage to New York' kinetic sculpture wonderfully expressed early views of Postmodernism. His nihalistic expression showcased a metaphor of the modern world, viewed by all in it's location outside the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (originally emerging from the Dada movement).
His intentions for the mechanical sculpture is that it would explode in a mad, climatic finale but instead it "fizzled" out- perhaps, therefore, an even stronger demonstrational metaphor for his views on the city!
Origins of Postmodernism
- 1917, German writer Rudolph Pannwitz spoke of 'nihlistic, amoral, postmodern men' whom had nothing to believe in anymore.
-1964- Leslie Fielder descrribed a 'post' culture which rejected the elitist values of Modern Culture.
*1960s beginning
*1970s established as a term (Jencks)
*1980s recognisable style
*1980s & 1990s dominant theoretical discourse
Today: Tired and simmering- the idea of Postmodernism has "ruptured", many loosing "faith in the movement".
Uses of the term "Postmodernism"
-After modernism (modernity, 1960)
-The historical era following the modern
-Contra modernism (rejecting the movement)
-Equivalent to 'late capitalism' (Jameson, critic)
-Artistic and stylistic eclecticism (e.g. hip hop music- sampling, mixing, new technologies which help to styalised production and products)
-'Global Village' phenomena: globalization of cultures, races, images, capital, products.
Theorist Charles Jencks described modernism as dying on 15th July 1972, at precisely 3:32pm when the demolition of the Pruitt- Igoe development, St. Louis occured (as he wrote in 'The Language of Postmodern Architecture' in 1977). The building, a modernist post-war social housing was constructed to provide cheap and affordable housing to ensure equality and fair society communities.
Less than twenty years on to the bulldoze, the failings of the modern utopian ideal are showcased- buildings and housing like these soon plunged into violent, criminal, prostitution fuelled sites.
Postmodernism
-Reflects the idea that somehow modernists "got it wrong".
-Postmodernism has an attitude of questioning conventions (especially those set out by Modernism).
-Postmodern aesthetic= multiplicity of style and approaches.
-Space for 'new voices'- a different "uniqueness" vs. modernism supporting equality and uniformity.
-Post modernists dismiss and reject these new technologies, whereas modernists praise them.
*People start to see modernism as elitist- forcing itself intellectually and physically upon oneself*
Postmodernism
-A reaction to these rules.
-Starts as a critique of the International Style
*Robert Venturi, Learning from Las Vegas, 1972.
*Ideas developed by Charles Jencks, 1977.
-The only rule is that there are no rules!
-Celebrates what might otherwise be described as "kitsch"- defined as "unimportant" in modernism, where "form follows function", but post-modernism really embraces and emphasises this.
Park Hills Flats in Sheffield c. 1960 are an example of the modernist style when imposing in the most aesthetically brutual way possible.
The building that was originally intended to be created as a piece of modernist, idyllic social housing, but has now become a slum- people there have even petitioned for it to be bulldozed so that they can be re-housed. However, the building cannot be bulldozed as it is considered to be a "listed" building due to it's modernist credentials.
The AT & T building designed by Philip Johnson (NYC, 1982) is a classic example of post-modernist design- a simple skyscraper but with far more individual and personified styling, with neo-classsical, Grecian influence creating a playful and opinionated design.
The Modernist Movement supported:
-A simplified aesthetic
-Utopian ideals
-Truth to materials
whereas Postmodernist suported:
-Complexity
-Chaos
-Mixing materials and styles (bricolage)
-Re-using images to create a sense of parody and irony
There are many examples of post-modernism in modern day culture, such as the film 'Blade Runner', which showcases the ultimate loss and failure of human progress in a postmodern dystopia. The film invents new genres, with mixtures and influences in various styles and eras.
Artist's statuses began to change during this time, taking the role of a celebrity, such as Andy Warhol, with a nihlistic act on the artists as a "great thinker".
At the end of the 1950s the purest form of Modernist painting was FORMALISM, theorised by the critic Clement Greenberg.
-Warhol's designs were not about creativity in any way, but was an attack of what it means to be truly artisitic.
Pollock's self-reflective style was expressionst in the purest sense, however, this style was lampooned by the pop artists who mocked this- such as Warhol's "painting", 'Oxieation Painting, whereupon he urinated over a copper metallic canvas, of course, selling for thousands (1978).
In summary, postmodernism is brash, driven, loud and proud- a representation of freedom in design like no other.
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