“The avant-garde must understands itself as invading unknown territory, exposing itself to the dangers of sudden, shocking encounters, conquering an as yet unoccupied future. The avant-garde must find a direction in a landscape into which no one seems to have yet ventured.”
– Habermas
Avant-garde refers to an expressive piece of culture that is experimental and also has never been tried before. The term originated as a military troop that first advanced into battle in unknown territory. Now, in the Habermas quote, it refers more closely to that original definition but instead of used in military purposes, it is in our culture, art and politics. As far as art goes, avant-garde is very powerful. It is often used for social reforms and protests, stirring up emotions of the public. Wikipedia says avant-garde-ism is manifested within non-conformists. What does that even mean? Who is to say who conforms and who doesn’t? We all conform or non-conform in our own ways.
Avant-Gardes go against anything popular and put a great emphasis on uniqueness and inidividuality. They are interested in the newest and most creative things, not a traditional item or event. Avant-Gardes and Modernity go hand in hand. “Modernity revolts against the normalizing functions of tradition; modernity lives in the experience of rebelling against all that is normative.” Modernity and A-G both want to change the future, something completely innovative that has never been thought of or done before.
3 comments:
Rico72 response, Habermas
I agree with Habermas and WoolyBully, it is the A-G that change the future. Last year in CMC we watched a video called "Merchants of Cool." In it, it showed how companies are always searching for the new trend. They actually have people that go to teenagers houses and ask them questions about life, what they like, what they wear, what they listen too, all to try to figure out what the next "cool" thing will be. However, as soon as the companys say that something is "cool" it loses its "cool" value.
Therefore you can never really find "cool." The A-G who shows what cool is, is not considered cool. Then once we are told it is cool, it is no longer cool. It's wordy to say and interesting to think about but true.
Looking at art, it goes back to user generated content (what I talked about in my last comment). Some of our favorite videos or short movies can be found on youtube. Although what Hollywood gives us for film can be great, we watch more youtube videos than film (this is an assumption not a fact!) We like to control what we see.
WoolyBully7. Your comments on the avant-garde are very good but I wish you would have expanded more on your thoughts.
-Starfish
Rico72. I am glad Woolybully's post inspired you to comment. Your mentioning of the CMC video was interesting. Next time expand on your thoughts because your post is on the shorter side.
-Starfish
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