Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Jean-Francois Lyotard, Andrew Wells

To start, I have to be honest. I Just picked up the packet for tomorrows class. I am writing what I understand as I read. Feel free to comment on any differences you have against my ideas.
Beginning off the reading, "What Is Postmodernism," I can see that I'm not alone when say that it is not easy to understand the point of view. He begins by talking about realism; "Realism, whose only definition is that it intends to avoid the question of reality implicated in that of art, always stands somewhere between academicism ad kitsch" (JFL, 41). Reading this line is a bit difficult for me to try to get an understanding on what it means. First what exactly is Lyotard saying that "...the art always stands somewhere between academicism and kitsch"? To break it down I first had to look up the definition to kitsch. It is defined as: excessively garish or sentimental art; usually considered in bad taste (wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn). The way I interpret this is that art can be viewed as a catch between academically or in bad taste. We are the true decider of what we like and don't like. There is no set standard to art.
Further more as I kept reading a certain reading popped up in my head. "Modern aesthetic of the sublime, though a nostalgic one." This struck me as another tricky quote that i found hard to understand. Once again i think it's important to break it done by defining some terms. Sublime to my understanding means something that is awe inspiring and worth noting adoration. Nostalgic means being unhappy because you are missing your surroundings. This could mean that the beauty of art is created to send a certain awe inspiration feeling but at the same time have a longing of being original... Any thoughts??

I'm going to continue reading the other article to better understand Lyotards meaning.

No comments:

Post a Comment