Postmodernism and Modernism as the Frame and The Mirror
‘Bush faces of the Dead – Source and a PoMo (Postmodern) primer
Postmodernism as the Frame and The Mirror
Further to my previous post re postmodernism I found this useful and stimulating;
“If the postmodern is a collage — as some critics have suggested — or if collage is itself a kernel of the postmodern, what does this mean for our way of understanding the world?” The Frame and the Mirror uses this question to probe the distinctive character of the postmodern situation and the philosophical problem of representation…………
More than an introduction to the postmodern, The Frame and the Mirror advances our understanding of the contemporary world by relating its features to the peculiar characteristics of collage. Ultimately, Brockelman shows how collage demands that we reinterpret modernity, conceiving of it as suspended between a loss of certainty and a new kind of knowledge about the human condition.
In doing so, his work challenges many of the claims made in the name of postmodernism — and offers in their place a new and ironic view of the cultural space in which contemporary and historical events occur.
from a review of The Frame and the Mirror: On Collage & Postmodernism by Thomas P. Brockelman 2001 Northwestern Uni Press
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This is only a fragment from a review but the key idea is that the past ideal was to mirror reality – either external reality as in a landscape or ‘internal reality’ in say the agonized energy of Van Gogh paintings. Now there is much greater consciousness about any ‘frame’ (context) that surrounds an object. Often there is much greater understanding about the ‘who, when, why, for whom, how etc’ of its creation.
In this spirit of postmodernism we can re-contextualize or re-frame anything from the past – for any one of numerous reasons. Reasons might include attacking the current status quo or attacking the status quo at the time of the original objects original creation.
This provides endless opportunities for novelty. We can take anything and re-contextualize it to create endless kaleidoscopic novelty. But do we also need a fixed point, an orientation, a harbour in a sea of change? I believe we do. That is we need a balance between that which is fixed and that which is open to change. But we can’t return to the past. Going back to earlier forms or over-simplified forms (fundamentalist religions) is to duck reality. The only position that can satisfy current challenges is a universalist one that includes a new form of humanism. Yes include the great world religions and philosophies – whatever leads us to be more just, true, good and beautiful. This universalist position above all recognizes oneness and arises from empathy and compassion towards all others of the species. Our humanity is our resistance to endless novelty that without some fixedness will only bring insanity.
The ‘portrait’ of President Bush is a kind of mosaic through artificial pixilation. It is also an astonishing assault on the normal conventions of portraiture as well as carrying its political and anti-war message. The image resonates with meanings and part of that is that it refers to modern digital communication except the ‘pixels’ are themselves the images of the fallen. The portrait itself is re-framed – and it reframes the meaning of this particular portrait.
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Interesting site here on modernism postmodernism and architecture
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All postings to this site relate to the central model in the PhD. Summaries are HERE
