ESPN12, Jencks

"Often in history there is a combination of continuity and change which looks perplexing because our view of both the old and new is altered." Jencks starts off with this quote and though short, it says a lot. If I understand him right I got that there are things within the post modern culture that can change are views of both present culture and past. I found it interesting to think that this notion can change the way we view the past. I understand that since we are living in the post modern world that are view of the world can change because of it, but I never really thought to much of how it can affect our views of the past. To me it makes quite a lot of sense.
In Jencks view of post modernity he states eleven of his most significant cannons to help better understand his view on the creativity of the arts and the architecture in this new culture. In my understanding of his explanation of the arts the quote "When several possible readings are presented simultaneously, it is left to the reader to supply the unifying text" helped me better understand. I was able to see it is similar to Bartes in the way that he says sometimes the authors cannot even predict the tmesis in their art and they are not sure what they meant. They leave it up to the reader/viewers to try and figure out what they mean. He mentions at times that it can be frustrating for readers because they want clear cut answers. However, it can also be a good thing and people will sometimes enjoy figuring out what they think is trying to be said. It leads to debates and people are able to relate the items back to themselves in a way that they think it was meant for them. Such debates and thought makes me think of the way that Jencks uses this sense of a pluralist society in the way there are multiple sides for everything and more put into the simplest of ideas art work and architecture.