Jencks offers multiple definitions of the term postmodernism to clarify to his reader the many different approaches one can take to understand its meaning. The one definition I found most helpful was near the very end of the piece when Jencks states, "...the age of eclecticism, we have the freedom to choose and perfect our conventions, and this choice forces us to look both inwards and outwards to culture as a whole."(294)
Personally i love this era that we are in when it comes to architecture and art. I love having the freedom to decide what I think a piece of art may or may not stand for. Don't get me wrong I love realism paintings as well, but for some reason the abstract pieces and "hybrid combinations" catch my eye. Jencks describes these abstract pieces as "disharmonious harmony". I think this type of art is crucial. It appeals to a larger audience because it speaks to more people. I remember in middle school always taking a field trip to the Cummer Art Museum. We would always be shown the typical landscapes the were very accurate with flowers and trees and a boy and girl swinging in the background--a very fluffy kind of pictures. No one was ever really interested in these pieces because there weren't multiple truths behind them...they were very clear and not thought provoking. Yet, once we got to the paintings of three different colored lines...that got everyone thinking. It is abstract and makes you think, instead of showing you what it is--the artist has left you to decode its meaning. Jencks even states that eclectic language speaks to a wider and more divergent audience (283).
An important aspect to postmodernism Jencks reiterates is that the piece of art or architecture should invoke feelings from the past and linking them to the present, or in his words "suggested recollection". This is important because it allows viewers to search elsewhere for the unified meaning, and apply their own meaning as well. Also, it creates a harmonious aura and a paradoxical genre.
After reading this piece, Jencks has further clarified my understanding of postmodernism seen throughout art and architecture.
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1 comment:
Good post. I especially liked your ideas on disharmonious harmony and your story about your art trip. I agree with you. I also tend to find abstract art for exhilarating and exciting
-starfish
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