Fig 1: Spoils of War, Winston Smith 1982
POSTMODERNISM: THE CENTRALITY OF THE ARTIST
POSTMODERNISM: THE CENTRALITY OF THE ARTIST
'Postmodern art is the rejection of traditional ideas and therefore, art is no longer about the artist’.
Discuss this statement with reference to three Postmodern artists.
Postmodern art is indeed the rejection of traditional ideas yet this does not mean art is no longer about the artist, in fact, it means the exact opposite. Postmodern art has allowed for infinite flexibility in terms of artmaking, the way for this flexibility was paved by the Dada movement and specifically, Marcel Duchamp. The fact that now, art can be anything as long as the artist considers it art has allowed absolute freedom for artists to explore and express themselves, their views on social issues, philosophy or economics with the only boundary being themselves disputes the claim that ‘Postmodern art is the rejection of traditional ideas and therefore, art is no longer about the artist’ and postmodernism has in fact made the artist more central to the ideas presented in comparison to older art movements such as impressionism or cubism. Three artists who embody the absolute freedom in subject matter and intellectual ideas found in postmodernism and specifically, institutional critique are Winston Smith (b. 1952), Michael Asher (1943-2012) and Fred Wilson (b. 1954).
Art has often been a symbol of the high society, to be enjoyed and bought by the elite members of society yet an artist who has destroyed this trend is Winston Smith (a pseudonym taken from George Orwell’s novel Ninteen Eighty-Four). Smith works predominantly in collage, stating that; “For me, collage is both a long and studious process of slow growing ideas, revealing themselves at glacial speed. Or, it can be like the sudden spark of a thunderclap that shakes you to your roots.” Smith’s work explores ideas of consumerism, the patriarchy, religion, capitalism, imperialism and government authority, he is most known for creating the logo for and various album covers for California punk band, Dead Kennedys. Spoils of War (1982) depicts a military uniform adorned with medallions of large corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Shell, Exxon and Gulf, all of which benefit astronomically from the Military Industrial Complex and American imperialism. These medallions are shown in a way where they mimic proper, military medallions awarded to soldiers during their time in the armed forces, by replacing these medals with the corporations that heavily influence and debatebly start wars around the world in the name of profit a strong point is being made by Winston Smith, a point that is central to him and his beliefs. The fact that Smith’s expression of his personal beliefs on US imperialism and the Military Industrial Complex can be neatly conveyed visually through his postmodernist style effectively refutes the initial statement that ‘Postmodern art is the rejection of traditional ideas and therefore, art is no longer about the artist’. Additionally, Spoils of War and Winston Smith, as an artist, shows that by the ultimate freedom and flexibility of artmaking which has been seen in the postmodern time frame allows for the artists personality and world-view to become central to the work itself, a luxury which has rarely been afforded in previous art movements.
Fig 1: Smith, Winston, Spoils of War, 1982
Fig 2: Smith, Winston, Kitchen Magic, Unknown
Institutional critique is the systematic enquiry into the world of art, into the inner-workings of art-brokers, art galleries and museums, this system of enquiry is now prevalent in the postmodern movement and, until 2012, was spearheaded by Michael Asher. Asher worked predominantly in large scale, architectural works which aimed to explore the art gallery as a concept, not to house art but simply as a space where the audience becomes far more important than the theoretical works which would normally adorn the walls. Asher’s work, Untitled at the Santa Monica Museum of Art in 2008 consisted of the frames of the 44 temporary walls which had been inside the museum from previous exhibitions. Provided at the entrance to the exhibition were comprehensive floor plans of all previous exhibitions at the museum, allowing the audience to embark on a tour of all previous exhibitions although without the works in the space. By turning the skeletal remains of past exhibitions into an exhibition in and of itself, Asher has placed the onus of the creation of the works upon the audience, forcing them, subconsciously or consciously, to imagine the space as it once was, a functioning gallery. Visually, the work itself in no way resembled a gallery and instead has been described as “vaguely but viscerally oppressive” and mimicking that of an imaginary prison. The cold, sharp and unforgiving nature of the work is diametrically opposed to the feelings and emotions that gallery spaces generally intend to evoke, although this is the nature of institutional critique, unforgiving exploration of the art world and stripping it down to its metaphorical bare-bones. This kind of intense analysis and irksome exhibitions show the degree to which postmodern artists can explore and analyse concepts solely through their art and relate it back to the artist’s own personal experience which again, refutes the initial statement that ‘Postmodern art is the rejection of traditional ideas and therefore, art is no longer about the artist’.
Fig 3: Michael Asher, Untitled, Santa Monica Museum of Art, California, 2008
With the development of art in recent decades, race relations and other social issues have become instrumental in the works of several artists and art movements. Fred Wilson, an African and native American installation artist has come to prominence through his racially charged works, exploring African history in Europe and America through the lens of a black man. Speak Of Me As I Am is Wilson’s 2003 installation at the Venice Biennale which reworked Shakepeare's seminal play, Othello, placing race relations at the forefront of the work through the use of Blackamoor statues in the work. Fred Wilson’s activism through art did not stop simply in his dedicated exhibition space either, Wilson placed more blackamoor statues around the Venice Biennale, holding benign objects such as light fixtures, fire extinguishers and spotlights, ready to be used if needed by the (predominantly white) audience. Wilson chose this approach after witnessing the prevalence of Blackamoor statues in Venice, predominantly in hotel lobbies, restaurants and shops. Through the use of Blackamoor statues, Wilson is highlighting the racist past (and present) of Europe and their perception of black people and what they bring to society, black people in Europe were seen as non-human, an object to serve the needs of the white population and to hold objects such as light fittings and fire extinguishers, exactly how Fred Wilson used the statues around the Venice Biennale. These statues went largely unnoticed as the audience have since become desensitised to the racist implications of Blackamoor statues. Wilson’s exhibition at the 2003 Venice Biennale not only explored race relations in the designated exhibition space, but crossed borders into the general space of the Biennale in order to create something akin to a public experiment through his placing of blackamoor statues throughout the entire iennale. This exploration of peoples reaction to something which they have no reason to consider art demonstrates a high degree of freedom for artists to test people and their reactions to convey the artists belief has rarely been seen before postmodernism and again, allows artists to create extremely personal works relating to their struggle, in Wilson’s case, the struggle against racism in the art world and the broader world.
Fig 4. Fred Wilson, Speak of Me as I am, Venice Biennale, Italy, 2003
Finally, the large weight placed on intellectual ideas rather than technical skill in painting, drawing or sculpting in the postmodern art movement has allowed artists to expressly convey their beliefs, ideas and theories to a much larger degree than any art movements preceding it. This allows for the artworks to be ultra-personal, allowing for the audience to experience and consider the viewpoints and struggles of the artists who created the works whether it be Winston Smith’s comments on imperialism, capitalism, consumerism or the patriarchy, Michael Asher’s exploration of the art world through institutional critique or Fred Wilson’s exploration of racism and public perception of racist figures in the art world. These three artists and their respective works all easily refute the claim that ‘Postmodern art is the rejection of traditional ideas and therefore, art is no longer about the artist’ through highly personal explorations of ideas which are held dear to the artists.
Dominic Carter 2022
Figure 2: Kitchen Magic, Winston Smith
Figure 3: Untitled, Michael Asher Santa Monica Museum of Art, California, 2008
Figure 4: Speak of Me as I am, Fred Wilson Venice Biennale, Italy, 2003
Guernica, Pablo Picasso 1937
THE PROGRESSIVE NATURE OF ART
THE PROGRESSIVE NATURE OF ART
‘The artistic exchange of ideas and influences can profoundly affect the artworld’.
Explore this statement with reference to a range of artists and artworks.
The progression of art, its ideas, its subject matter and its execution has always been a result of the struggle between the traditional methods of bygone eras and the material conditions of and around the artists themselves, this results in an absurdist, challenging era of art when artists are able to detach themselves from these bygone eras and react freely to the material conditions which are observed by them. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Hugo Ball (1886-1927) and Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) are all examples of artists who have managed to untether themselves from the conditions of the past, though not without taking inspiration, and become catalysts for a significant progression in the art world. The continual borrowing of and expanding upon previous artists and art movements is another factor that heavily influences how art linearly progresses over time, Pablo Picasso, Hugo Ball and Marcel Duchamp in particular are examples of this method of progression, this can be seen specifically in Picasso's Guernica (1937) and Weeping Woman (1937), Balls Karawane (1916) and Gadji Beri Bimba (1916) and Duchamps Fountain (1917) and L.H.O.O.Q. (1919).
Pablo Picassos method of creation used aspects of former art movements, those before modernism, but he distorted the ideas of what painting was meant to be visually and theoretically. Guernica is a prominent example of this, Picasso not only borrows from other art movements before him, the painting itself is a reaction to world events, specifically the Nazi bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil war. Visually, the style of Guernica is heavily influenced by Soviet Constructivism through the use of large, sharp shapes in the background, behind the screaming figures and dismembered limbs. Although Picasso was seen as somebody who revolutionised the world of painting and art in general, he was still heavily influenced by art movements which had occurred before him or were ongoing during his time, this reinforces the fact that all progression in art does not happen in a vacuum, progression in art comes as a result of the exchanging and expanding upon of various ideas. Weeping Woman is another example of the swift progression Picasso was a catalyst for in the art world, when talking about the exchange of ideas and influences in the art world it is generally assumed that the act of exchanging ideas and influences happens between two or more individuals, this idea is challenged in Weeping Woman. Weeping Woman was created in the same year which Guernica was created and the woman herself is actually taken from Guernica, Weeping Woman was created from the image of a mother holding her dead child during the bombing of Guernica and the same woman was depicted in the painting. Vibrant colours have been added to the womans body and surroundings but a core of grey, blue and black is kept, this cluster of morose colours represents the dead child that the woman is holding. Guernica and Weeping Woman both demonstrate two different methods of exchanging ideas and influences, influence from other artists and styles and influence from within the one artist. Both methods have allowed Picasso to profoundly change the art world through unique and interesting manners.
Hugo Ball was a German artist, author, poet and main founder of the Dada art movement, Ball did not subscribe to any traditional role as an artist and as such he managed to revolutionise the world of performance art. Balls work as an artist was always a direct reaction to the horrors of World War One and as such, that became his heaviest influence during his period as an artist. Ball was a performer of sound poems (poems where any language is replaced with a foreign set of “words” in order to mimic human language but to not be decipherable) the performance of these poems bridged the gap between complete and utter insanity and the world of art, during the performance of ‘Karawane’, Ball donned an absurd costume to equally match the absurd nature of the sound poem which he was performing, the costume consisted of large cardboard tubes for his arms, legs and torso, a chefs toque-like hat made from cardboard, lobster claws for his hands, again, constructed from cardboard and a large cardboard cape which wrapped around his upper body, this cape would expand akin to that of an eagles wings if he were to move his elbows outward, Gadji Beri Bimba was a separate sound poem which was performed in the same costume. The absolute insanity of Hugo Balls performanced mirrored that of his and the publics mindset at the height of the war in 1916 and served as a strong political statement in reaction to the war, Karawane and Gadji Beri Bimba have been taken as attempts to mock the way politicians speak and coerce the public and it has also been taken as a critique of theatre and performance art. Although the performances of Hugo Ball may seem to have a complete disconnect between any former art movements, Balls poems do take heavy influence from the traditional art form of poetry, Ball had just expanded upon, taken influence from all traditional poets and changed the concept of poetry to a point where no discernable point was to be taken from his performances, but that was the whole point.
Marcel Duchamp, much like Hugo Ball subscribed to the art movement of Dada and through his revolutionary philosophy around art became undoubtedly, the most prominent Dadaist ever. Duchamps readymades also, again, much like Hugo Ball, seem to have no connection to previous art forms and art movements, and this was true for many of his readymades and is the sole reason he was able to help art progress so far in such little time. The exchange of ideas among Dadaists was extremely strong and commonplace, this led to the creation of something of an echo-chamber among the Dadaists and allowed them to have complete, free experimentation. This complete and free experimentation ultimately allowed for the development of Duchamps barrier-breaking quote; “Anything is art if the artist says it is”, this simple saying allowed for the complete, free progression of art outside of the barriers of painting and sculpture and came as a direct result of the exchanging of ideas in the society of Dada. Both Fountain and L.H.O.O.Q. are the result of Duchamps concept, mere years before Duchamp, neither of these works would have been considered art, Fountain would have just been a urinal and L.H.O.O.Q. would have just been vandalism but the exchange of ideas between Dadaists allowed for complete experimentation in their respective mediums. Fountain was indeed just a urinal but the urinal represented Duchamp challenging of the art world and commenting on its elitism and traditional values, Duchamps complete detachment from previous art movements with the creation of Fountain is the main driving force behind the development of art in the early 20th century. On the other hand, L.H.O.O.Q. is not as detached from previous art movements as Fountain was. L.H.O.O.Q. is a cheap, postcard reproduction of Da Vincis Mona Lisa with a pencil moustache and beard drawn on the subjects face, by using the most famous artwork of all time and vandalising it, Duchamp is in a way defacing the ‘old ways’ of art and ushering in a new era of progressive, free art, the title, L.H.O.O.Q. also shows this, L.H.O.O.Q. can be loosely translated to english as ‘She has a hot arse’, the vulgarity of this title is further defacing the world of traditional artmaking and showing the freedom which he can now express through his artmaking. The exchanging of ideas in the circle of Dadaists resulted in an era of complete freedom in art and gave a path to artists growing up in the era of Dadaism which can still be seen in our era of Post-modern Contemporary art.
Pablo Picasso, Hugo Ball and Marcel Duchamp have all shown how the exchange of ideas and influences can profoundly effect the art world and in their own ways, they did profoundly change the perception of art in their respective mediums. Picasso, Ball and Duchamp also demonstrate how to truly change the art world and allow it to progress at an unprecedented rate you must remove yourself from a linear idea of art history and untether yourself from past ideas of what art is meant to be.
Dominic Carter 2022