LESSON 9- caught in between: modern and contemporary art( Art Appreciation).pptx
- 1. LESSON 9 Caught in Between: Modern and Contemporary Art
- 2. Learning Outcomes By the end of this lesson, you should be able to: 1. differentiate modern and contemporary art: 2. show the interrelation of modern and contemporary art; 3. isolate and discuss significant historical events that informed and inspired the different movements under contemporary art; and 4. classify specific artworks into the different movements under contemporary art.
- 3. The history of art is one of the most difficult tasks to pin down. As what previous chapters have shown, significant ideas, canons and tradition, preferences and dominance of styles, media, and mode of production were the definitive characteristics that segment art history into identifiable periods and movements; identifiable, but not necessarily precise. It is important to note that the periods and movements of art are themselves testament to the connection of art and culture in the everyday life. As it is examined and analyzed in context, it becomes increasingly apparent that art is not detached from; rather, it is embedded in the affairs of the society in which it exists. It offers a glimpse as to the beliefs of specific eras and how these beliefs were translated into how people saw themselves and the world and how they chose to come into terms with it all in flux.
- 4. This lesson attempts to provide a glimpse of contemporary art and how it was understood, defined, and represented, not only within the bounds of the art world, but also beyond it...
- 5. The term "contemporary" seems simple and straightforward enough to define. There is this assumption that it need not be asked; rather, that it must already be understood. But with an attempt to do so, one finds it is a lot harder to grasp. The complexity of defining the term is attributed to the fact that people have dissenting views on the interpretation of the "present," of "today," or what the "now" means- these are often ideas that follow the word contemporary. Even more so, is when it is hinged on the word "art" and suddenly it becomes a bit fuzzy. Defining the Contemporary
- 6. Another source of confusion is the fact that in the colloquial, "modern" and "contemporary" are considered synonymous. This, however, is not the case when these terms are used in the context of art. Therein, they refer to two different (but consecutive) periods qualified by different approaches to artmaking and the functions that art served. To better make sense of contemporary art, perhaps it is best to dial back to its predecessor, modern art.
- 7. Modern art saw the digression of artists away from past conventions and traditions and toward freedom. There is the famous adage of "anything goes." With the world becoming increasingly complex, it required an art that could accommodate such range and breadth.
- 8. Roughly between the 1860s to late 1970s, creatives celebrated the novel opportunities in art, from the materials to its manipulation and ways of seeing and thinking about art. The devotion of artists to a strict narrative was often illustrated in their figurative works; however, these artists gave their nod to abstraction. The tenets of this period were not only reflected in its art, but it was also evident in the way people lived and conducted themselves, the social issues that were relevant, fashion, music and the wide range of images and activities they were engaged in. This period saw the heavy mass production of goods, along with the encouraging environment made possible by industrialization, new technology, urbanization, and rise of commercially driven culture.
- 9. There was also a palpable secularization of society, interest in nature, and primacy of the self and individuality. Artists were committed to developing a language of their own-original but representative. What this means is that artists drew the world but in his own terms. It was no wonder that within this period grew a vast number of different movements.
- 10. The period that ensued was touted contemporary art. In order to move forward, it is necessary to underscore that this can be better understood after a starting point has been established. Compared to the dense taxonomy of modern art, contemporary art had fewer -isms under its wing. Perhaps, this was also due to the fact that it is still unfolding.
- 11. 1. The 1970s saw the emergence of "postmodernism." The affix was a clue that whatever followed was segregated from it precursor. 2. The 1970s saw the decline of the clearer identified artistic movements. Effectively, this period can be traced from the 1970s to the present. There is a reason behind this cutoff. The cutoff was hinged on two reasons:
- 12. Reaping the benefits and drawbacks of the dramatic changes that occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century, the social, political, and cultural context continued to provoke the artist to create. Social Context: In Between Modern and Contemporary Art
- 13. "Art may be spoilt for choice. In a world where nothing is seasonal or regional any more, there is no home base from which to operate. And so the arts today can be seen as responding to a number of issues, some from within their own structures of means and techniques, some more widely understood as issues within society. Typically none is resolved." (Tamplin, 1991) Contemporary art was heavily driven by ideas and theories, and the even the blurring of notions of what is and can be considered as "art," with the involvement of television, photography, cinema, digital technology, performance, and even objects of the everyday. It was the idea that was more important than its visual articulation.
- 14. There were several art movements that were caught in between the succession of modern and contemporary art. These movements laid the groundwork for the transition into contemporaneity. Reeling after the war, one of the early movements was abstract expressionism (early 1940s to mid-1960s) which took the basic tenets of abstraction and combined with it with gestural techniques, mark-making, and a rugged spontaneity in its visual articulation. Often affiliated with New York painters (hence being called the New York School), some of them include Clyfford Still, Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Barnett Newman, and Mark Rothko, who were committed to creating abstract works that had the ability to convey and elicit emotion, especially those residing in the subconscious. Two major styles emerged from this: that of action painting and color fields. Action painting underscored the process of creation in that it showed the physicality, direction and most often, the spontaneity of the actions that made the drips and strokes possible. On the other hand, color fields emphasized the emotional power of colors, From the vivid demarcations to the more toned-down transitions, these bands of color were akin to the effect of landscapes.
- 15. Creating energy was at the center of "op art" or optical art (early 1960s onward). Much like what was discussed in the lesson on elements of art that dimension can be implied even on a two-dimensional surface or plane, op art relied on creating an illusion to inform the experience of the artwork using color, pattern, and other perspective tricks that artists had on their sleeves. From making it seem like a section was protruding out or receded in the background, to creating movement, works under this movement showed a certain kind of dynamism. It inspired several artists in different countries to create their own iteration of op art: Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely, British artists Bridget Riley and Peter Sedgley, American Richard Anuszkiewicz, and Israeli Yaacov Agam. Other artists expanded their works to include other materials such as nails, plexiglass, and metal rods, including Jesus Soto, Guenther Uecker, Enrico Castellani, and Carlos Cruz-Diez.
- 16. The quest for actual movement in the works created were responded to by kinetic art (early 1950s onward). Harnessing the current and direction of the wind. components of the artwork which was predominantly sculptural, most were mobiles and even motor-driven machines, was an example of how art and technology can be brought together. Artists known for creating kinetic art were Naum Gabo, Alexander Calder, Jean Tinguely, Bridget Riley, and Nicolas Schoffer. One of the most recent kinetic artist to gain attention is Theo Jansen with his massive sculptures or beasts, as he likes to refer to them. Using plastic tubes and PVC pipes, he has created several life forms that took over the sea- side.
- 17. In Japan during the post-war, platforms that were grounded on movement and a sense of dynamism were utilized to convey ideas attached to the new-found freedom, individuality and openness to the international sphere. Termed gutai (1950s-1970s) which means embodiment or concreteness, it preceded the later forms of performance and conceptual art. Gutai straddled between multiple platforms from performance, theatrical events, installation, and even painting. The founder of the Gutai Art Association or Gutai Group was Yoshihara Jiro in 1952. Other known gutai artists were Tanaka Atsuko, Saburō Murakami, Kanayma Akira, Murakami Saburo, and Shozo Shimamoto.
- 18. Another movement was minimalism which cropped up in the early 1960s in New York, and saw artists testing the boundaries of various media. It was seen as an extreme type of abstraction that favored geometric shapes, color fields, and the use of objects and materials that had an "industrial" the sparse. "The new art favored the cool over the 'dramatic': their sculptures were frequently fabricated from industrial materials and emphasized anonymity over the expressive excess of Abstract Expressionism. Painters and sculptors avoided overt symbolism and emotional content, but instead called attention to the materiality of the works." (Wolf, n.d.).
- 19. Another assumption was that its subtext was deference to truth, as a thing was presented as itself, without pretensions or embellishments. It also had a very utopic aura about it. Some of the key figures in this movement were Agnes Martin, Robert Morris, Sol LeWitt, Dan Flavin, Carl Andre, and Donald Judd.
- 24. THANK YOU THANkS