pre-class, Lyotard

"If it is true modernity takes place in the withdrawal of the real and according to the sublime relation between the presentable and the conceivable, it is possible, within this relation, to distinguish two modes. The emphasis can be placed on the powerlessness of the faculty of presentation, on the nostalgia for presence felt by the human subject, on the obscure and futile will which inhabits him in spite of everything." (page 45)

This passage struck me as very intriguing because it describes how modernity is with the absence of the real. But what is real? how do we know that what is around us is real? A definition of real is "a verified existence," but how is this verified? Lyotard answers by saying what is present and conceivable are real. The real can be very confusing to determine and this is exactly what postmodernity it. Defining the real is hard, especially when it comes to media and art. For example now people have a hard time seeing art as art. A triangle and a line on a canvas might be art to some but it is not to others. Artistic form has been lost in some aspects and real art is dying. So if a triangle is art then why can't anything be art? Is there a line that is drawn for what is art and what isn't? Couldn't a car, or a window, or even a table be art? Photos, TV shows and movies are also considered an art form now. What makes them art? is it the double-coding? what makes them real? if they are real then are they art? how can we really define anything as real?