Lyotard

In the article "Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?" Lyotard discusses the relationship between modernism and postmodernism. He believes that postmodernism is part of the modern. "A work can only be modern if it is first postmodern" (page 44). This quote reminded me of Jenks term "tradition reinterpreted." Tradition reinterpreted is a relationship between the past and present. This represents Lyotard because modernity reflects postmodernity, just as the present represents the past. Lyotard claims that the difference between modern aesthetics and postmodern aesthetics is the unpresentable. He says "modern aesthetics in an aesthetic of the sublime, although a nostalgic one. It allows the unpresentable to be put forward only as the missing contents; but the form because of its recognizable consistency continues an offer to the reader or the viewer matter for solace or pleasure." (Page 46)

Habermas 2/11

The quote that I chose to elaborate on for this blog entry is on page 100 of Habermas. It states, “Modernity revolts against the normalizing functions of tradition; modernity lives on the experience of rebelling against all that is normative.” I think this quote provides an interesting definition summing up what modernity really is.  For something to be modern it must be different from what was once considered the norm.  In order for something to be modern it must be unique separating it from the non-modern.  The avant-garde is an example of how something can be reinvented in order to move towards modernity. Habermas says that, “The avant-garde must find a direction into which no one seems to have yet ventured.”  This is how one can move towards modernity.  When the concept of modernity first came about there were many forms of art, performance, architecture and ways of thinking that had not yet been explored.  As the world has become more of a modern place it has become more difficult to find new ways of expression that are considered to be modern.  Avant-garde ideas are harder to come upon as time goes by and society progresses. 

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?

Pre-Class, Lyotard

In Lyotard’s examination of providing a helpful understanding of postmodernism in “Answering the Question: What is Postmodern,” he offers a comparison between the aesthetics of modernism versus the aesthetics of postmodernism as a means of emphasizing difference, and by pointing out what exactly postmodern is not, can better comprehend what postmodern is. One of the main themes seems to be the notion of the “unpresentable”. According to Lyotard, “modern aesthetics is an aesthetic of the sublime, though a nostalgic one…[allowing] to put forward only as the missing contents,” (46) while on the other hand, “the postmodern…puts forward the presentable in presentation itself; that which denies itself the solace of good forms, the consensus of a taste which would make it possible to share collectively the nostalgia for the unattainable; that which searches for new presentations” (46). In modernity, it is expressed that there exist certain grand concepts that can be imagined and conceived mentally yet are unable from being articulated and materialized in tangible form, an idea that Kant coins the “sublime” and what Lyotard seems to equivocate with the “unpresentable”. Modern art attempts to present the fact that the “unpresentable” does in fact exists, yet does so with “little technical expertise” (43). Kant provides a helpful suggestion that this abstract idea of the “sublime” can best be conceptualized by the principle of “absence of form” or “empty abstraction,” both of which exemplify a withdrawal from reality. Lyotard recognizes this fact in his assertion that “modernity, in whatever age it appears, cannot exist without a shattering of belief and without discovery of the ‘lack of reality’ of reality” (43). On the other hand, Lyotard argues that postmodern art attempts to make the unpresentable perceivable, but does so not by working off of precedent and pre-established rules; rather, the postmodern artists’ art is looking for… those rules and categories” (46). Likewise, postmodernism is not in search of reaching a sense of “totality” that is already in existence but is instead in search of the “what if’s” or the “what might be’s’,” with its final destination being completely unknown.

VAGABOND post class 2/9 [& response to K.Krig]

First of all, I would like to start with a response to King Kriggle's post.

I think you did a great connection with The Matrix, I certainly see the connection now. I also see what you are saying with the "natural flavors" and he "artificial flavors." While I think we are still far from never being able to eat grapes or watermelon, it is still rather traumatizing to think of how somewhere down the road, no one would be able to understand the authentic from the replica.

I remember eating those popsicles that look like a slice of watermelon but taste like nothing but pure sugary awesomeness. True that there is a hint of watermelon but nothing like the real thing.

To be honest, I have no idea of what the future entails. But there's instant everything - ramen noodles for example. A student who graduated from my high school went off to MIT and figured out a way to dehydrate vegetables but is able to recover the essence of the carrot and lettuce and green onions in the process of adding hot water. Amazing, really.

Pre-class 2/11 What is Post / Modernism

“Photography did not appear as a challenge to painting from the outside, any more than industrial cinema did to narrative literature.” ( 48)

I like this quote presented in the Lyotard what is Post Modernism handout. I find this is interesting way to look and how painting changed over time and expanded into the aspect of Photography. Photographs capture the outside an appearance and bring a feeling. They capture a moment which is different from what a painting brings because in a painting you can express images in your own way and bring yourself to them. The cinema industry brings literature to life. It takes a story where we would fill in the gaps of the language and make up our own story to life. A director takes different parts of a piece of literature and presents them to us in the way they believe it to be seen. They almost morph our way of how we would look at the piece of literature instead of forming our own idea we are giving an idea of how it should be imagine. Expansion of film and photography creating and moving from the hand craft to the mechanical does not necessary replace the before. It only expands them in different ways. A painting has different meaning then a photograph and a novel gives you a different feeling and imagination then a film. They are only new ways to look at things but not necessarily replacing the old or “modern” with the “postmodern”.

King Kriggle Post class for 2/9/10

Thinking back to the awesome class we had today I continue to think about one thing…the grape example…haha, I know it seems small but it really got me thinking again about what Benjamin had said “in principle all works of art are reproducible” (19). This is a really good point, but in the class today we dove into the fact that by repeating something like that you lose some of the essence. So I pose a question about this and look back to how artificial it really is out there or can be one day. In the movie The Matrix a character named “mouse” begins to talk to Neo in one of the opening scenes about how he wonders if they got “tastee wheat” correct in the matrix. By this he means he wonders if the machines were able to get the taste right for him to perceive it, and then he went on to say what if it didn’t really taste like that, what if it actually tasted like something else. This is a very interesting point that I think could very well happen in the future. If the children of tomorrow get so used to the phrase “some natural and other artificial flavors added” how will they ever want or know a real watermelon, grape, cherry, or any other flavor for that matter. Most children of today when they think of the flavor cherry will always think of the additive grenadine which made so many Shirley temples or whatever people of the day called them. Truth of the matter is that artificial good or bad, is coming. If you look at the progression of our population it is going to get hard to supply this many people with products that are not in some way artificial, but therein lies the problem. It isn’t always better for you or better for the environment to make such products, but they do it anyway…haha gotta love the whole thing right?