Post-Modernism, Ai Weiwei and Banksy

1. Define Post-Modernism using 8-10 bullet points that include short quotes.

“Postmodernism was an attack on what had come before; it was an attack on modernism”, Adamson (2011).

It’s about the disillusionment of modernism.

In a Post-Modern world nothing has essential meaning anymore

It is suspicious of all truth claims because they are seen as attempts to control people.

It is against the idea of one grand narrative.

Relies on concrete experience over abstract principals.

It’s extremely sceptical of explanations and instead focuses on relative truths of each individual.

Social constructivism is another postmodern idea. One version of this idea is that “reality is created by social reality”, Saugstad (2001).

“Postmodernism is associated with relativism. Relativism is the idea that ‘anything goes’”, Saugstad (2001).

“It can be described as a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices employing concepts such as difference, repetition, the trace, the simulacrum, and hyperreality to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress, epistemic certainty, and the univocity of meaning,” Aylesworth (2010).

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

“The post-modern 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, ‘demasking’ pretentions, becoming aware of his/her cultural self in history, and accelerating the process of self-consciousness”, Witcombe (2000).

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

I believe like many others that postmodernism is an attack on modernism because it undermines the manipulative ideologies of modernism by rejecting truth claims and grand narratives. This is seen in postmodern artwork where the artificiality of style is exposed and it is not used to convey ideologies. Instead postmodern artists believe that viewers should add their own personal interpretation for the work to be meaningful. Postmodern art still integrates elements of other art movements but art work does not try to elucidate its viewers with authority or interpretation.

As said in the ALVC resource book (page 43) postmodernism is a disruption of dominance and it is a mixture of cultural forms. Postmodern art is seen as a process, performance and production. It recycles culture, text, identity and is authenticated by the audience. Postmodernism is a play, it is ironic and it challenges seriousness. Anything goes with its hybridity of promiscuous genres, recombinant culture and intertextuality. Postmodernism sets no clear boundaries and makes anything possible.

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.

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

Ai Weiwei dropping a Han Dynast Urn.

Ai Weiwei is commonly described as a “postmodern Renaissance man”. As noted on WordPress (2011) he is known as China’s most politically vocal contemporary artist. His art questions communist authority and basic human rights.

The features of the ‘Hans Dynasty Urn with Coca-Cola logo’ which makes it postmodern is how it questions the grand narratives of China’s culture and ideologies, its disruption of China’s culture by adding the well known Coca-Cola logo and also how it challenges the thoughts of the viewers. Ai Weiwei’s is also a postmodern artist because his work is diverse and he uses many mediums. An example of this diversity is how he created a performance piece by smashing an old urn and documenting the process of his disruption with photographs.

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

'Flower Riot', Banksy

Los Angeles (2008), Banksy

Banksy is a seemingly unidentifiable but well heard of English street artist and is described as “a pioneer of the postmodern project,” Betbeze (2010). As Betbeze goes on to say his work is “embracing irony and surviving on an anarchic, law breaking process, he’s stretching the boundaries of genre and form while appearing to disregard them all together”. I think this statement sums up Banksy’s street art well and also shows us why he can be defined as a postmodern artist.

I think Banksy’s work ‘Flower Riot’ can be defined as postmodern art because it’s conversational and since it is ‘street art’ the work participates in the real order and it engages the viewer’s thoughts well. Work such as this and also Bansky’s graffiti of a cave man with McDonalds brings up important ideas of irony and hypocrisy in society. As Banksy (2006) is quoted “graffiti is not the lowest form of art... it’s actually one of the most honest art forms available... there is no elitism or hype.” These are all ideas of postmodernism and also show us why Banksy can be described as a postmodern artist.

Reference List

Banksy. (2006). Banksy wall and piece. London, England: Century.

Saugstad, A. (2001). Postmodernism: What is it, and what is wrong with it? http://goinside.com/01/1/postmod.html

Witcombe,C (2000) Modernism & Postmodernism. http://witcombe.sbc.edu/modernism/modpostmod.html

Brown, M. (2011). Postmodernism? London's V&A museum attempts a definition. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/feb/28/postmodernism-retrospective-london-v-and-a

Aylesworth, G. (2010). "Postmodernism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2010/entries/postmodernism/

WordPress. (2011). Ai Weiwei: Without Fear or Favour, a BBC Documentary. http://designbento.wordpress.com/2011/07/20/ai-weiwei-without-fear-or-favour-a-bbc-documentary/

Betbeze, B. (2010). Banksy: a postmodern pioneer.                                 http://blastmagazine.com/the-magazine/culturefashion/arts/art/banksy-a-postmodern-pioneer/