Post-Modernism, Ai Weiwei and Banksy

·         Postmodernism is a philosophical movement away from the viewpoint of modernism

·         The term is used in philosophy ,literature,social science and architecture.

·         Post - modernist’s use a comtempory style throughout design,a playful characteristic instead of the reductive ,minimalist style of modernism,postmodernist architecture is noticeable by its mixture of styles (Crouch,C)

·         It emphasizes the role of language, power relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial.

·         Post- modernism introduced the idea of having no grand narrative. People began forming new stories about evolution leaving the belief of one absolute truth behind i.e. a majority of the population believed in god but post- modernism encouraged pluralism “a theory that there is more than one basic substance or principle.”(Dictionary.com)

·         It is associated with relativism.Relativism is the idea that ‘‘anything goes’’

·         Postmodernism  came after the modernist period (late 20^th century)

·         Constructive post- modernism is a form of post- modernism that proposes a “positive alternative to the modern world”( religion-online.org) as oppose to deconstructive post modernism where all “values are seen as baseless… life itself is meaningless”(Witcombe, C)

2. Use a quote by Witcombe 2000) to define the Post-Modern artist.

          “The post- modernist artist is reflexive in that he/ she is self-aware and consciously involved in a           process of thinking about him/ herself and society in a deconstructive manner” (Witcombe, C)

‘‘Postmodernists believe that the West’s claims of freedom and prosperity continue to be nothing more than empty promises and have not met the needs of humanity’’. (Witcombe, C)

http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/postmodernism.htm

3. Use the grid on pages 42 and 43 to summarize the list of the features of Post-
Modernity.

Postmodernists do not attempt to refine their thoughts about what is right or wrong, true or false, good or evil. They believe that there isn’t such a thing as absolute truth. A postmodernist views the world outside of themselves as being in error, that is, other people’s truth becomes indistinguishable from error. Therefore, no one has the authority to define truth or impose upon others his idea of moral right and wrong. A dominance of popular culture over high culture is evident with a more flippant approach to making art considering more playful methods and materials to work with. Post- modern artists are generally looking to make a statement through their work whether it be positive, negative, political or social.

4. Use this summary to answer the next two questions.

5. Research Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's 'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994)
in order to say what features of the work are Post-Modern.

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist and political activist, who is also active in architecture, curating, photography, film, and social and cultural criticism. He try to used that playful postmodernist to convey the message of how traditional Chinese culture could be blend smoothly in different colourful contrast with the media western culture, which also keeping with the postmodern theme if pop art culture over the high culture. It is actually a normal traditional old urn,but it caught audience attention because of the red colourful bold text ‘coca cola’ makes the urn looks more interesting and convincing. He is expressing his own media perspective, which a lot of postmodern art tends to do. Postmodernist artist by contrast, always seem to be trying to express what they think about society in deep,meaningful, abstract and masterfully.

http://www.arthurimiller.com/journalism/the-worlds-of-ai-weiwei/

'Han Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo'(1994), Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei dropping a Han Dynast Urn.

6. Research British artist Banksy's street art, and analyze the following two works by the artist
to discuss how each work can be defined at Post-Modern.(Use your list from point 6.)

'Flower Riot', Banksy

Banksy’s  “Flower Riot” has features which are clearly post- modern.Looking at the man’s hand,he has replaced what would probably be a harmful weapon in the man’s hand with a bunch of flower’s.Also in this work ,only the bunch of flowers were in flamboyant colour,with sweet ,romantic looking which is the important point to notice here.Whereas the man is rather fierce,strong and rough.Banksy has made a serious image turn into pop-culture and more freedom.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1034538/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-unmasked---public-schoolboy-middle-class-suburbia.html

Los Angeles (2008), Banksy

This Banksy’s work called“Los Angeles” has post- modern aspects feel. His style and message have, ironically, been wholeheartedly embraced by the very type of people he mocks. With Neanderthal man holds a tray of what looks like some type of fast food, could be McDonalds and with a bone in the other hand. It is trying to convey the message of how the Neanderthal spent his life constantly hunting and searching for food to survive.Unlike nowadays it is so easy to find, ‘fast-food’ is everywhere and people don’t even concern about their health.People buy fast-food to ease their urge.The image is irony and humour in his work.


References

http://weburbanist.com/2008/09/02/where-to-find-banksy-art-around-the-world-part-seven-in-an-eight-part-banksy-series/

http://theworldsbestever.com/2008/02/new_banksy_pieces_surface_in_l.php

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2009/03/11/how-china-conquered-the-art-world.html