FloRida, 9/19

I am really happy that Louisa read those specific blogs this week. They really helped me realize how to connect different theorist to one another. I have been having trouble connecting all of them in my mind but it is a great idea to read other blogs to help you put the pieces together. The past few theorists have been pretty difficult to understand and reading/seeing other people’s takes on what the readings are about truly helps.
This past week we discussed Habermas and Jencks. Habermas was extremely difficult material, while Jencks was a little less difficult to comprehend. One point that Dr. Rog discussed through Habermas was the concept of conservatism. We constantly label our society with two different parties, when in reality the use of the words conservative and liberal means something completely different than what it used to. According to Habermas there are three types of conservatives: Young-claim centered anti-modern revelations (AKA: Theorists)/ Old- decry decline of reason, yearn for Renaissance (AKA: Liberal Arts)/ Neoconservatives- technical, capital, rational (AKA: Cheney). I believe the quote that conceptualizes this point is when Habermas states, “Hegemony never sees itself as “political” or “ideological.”
Jencks was somewhat more readable. He wants to move from the classical to the neoclassical. This means that we move away from a very simplistic style to a more ornate, decorative style. Jencks discusses eleven rules or canons that he uses to describe art or architecture. In my pre-class post, I discussed how I could really understand the first one which is about beauty and composition. He describes them as dissonant beauty or disharmonious Harmony. Through Dr. Rog’s presentation and the use of visual I could truly understand the other ten canons. I really liked the concept of Urbane Urbanism. I feel like a lot of architecture does this, where the builders try and make the building or art form look like it is much older than it actually is.
I could connect the two through their concepts of art and architecture. Habermas uses the ideas of traditionalism versus avant-gardism, while Jencks uses his eleven canons to explain different reasons for why art and architecture are presented a certain way. Both have interconnected ideas when looked at in depth.