From the examples of Wikipedia, How to tell a true war story, and the Fountain are all good examples of post modernism thought. All of them show they challenge the traditional structure of the industries they operate in. For example Wikipedia challenges ideas about the author being one person and having credentials, it challenges the idea that information is static and doesn't change, it also challenge that information should be free and you don't have to pay for it. For How to Tell a True War Story, Tim O'Brien challenges the idea that narrative truth is not the same as emotional truth and it is okay to be an unreliable narrative. This can be seen directly influenced by war where you can see that morality is ambiguous and humans are irrational. The view is much more realistic and no longer romanticizes human ideals. The Fountain also challenged art conventions and it structure and definition. It asks the question what is the definition of art. Duchamp proposes that art can be a ready made manufactured object and it is simply the context and the decision of the artist to choose it. It is also the beginning of conceptual art, where the idea presented in the art is more important the physical object of art. Post modernism demonstrates an attitude that is harshly realistic, challenges the tradition in which things used to be and fundamentally changed the approach to all aspects of society.
Postmodernism Final
Pomo Comic
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Monday, May 12, 2014
wikipedia
Wikipedia demonstrates postmodern thinking
because it challenges the idea of the encyclopedia completely. Previously
encyclopedias are written by academic scholars who have credentials in their
field, it goes through rigorous reviews before it can be published. It is a
lengthy and tedious process that takes a long time and is cost inefficient, by
the time everything has been approved the information can be outdated. However
with Wikipedia it challenges the idea of authorship. Not only one person can
write an article actually many people can write this article. Furthermore who
is author does not matter anymore it becomes about the information. The editors
remain anonymous and go through a collective editing process who are trusted
wikipedia users. Therefore no longer limited to the academics. By allowing easy
access to editing it allows the information to be updated. Another postmodern
idea is contradiction and relative truth. The wikipedia information is
constantly changing to be more relevant to the time it is happening it is the
very example of a relevant truth.encyclopedia based
on authoritative figures in academia, it is an open source
platform that is monitored and written by potentially anyone. In
addition Wikipedia encyclopedia based
on authoritative figures in academia, it is an open source
platform that is monitored and written by potentially anyone. In addition
wikipedia challenges the notion that text is permanent, with the articles being
written and rewritten daily, the text becomes a fluid entity. Furthermore it
also challenges previous notions of human motivation, the intrinsic motivation
of the intellectual community has proven infinitely more powerful than a monetary
commission based model.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
"How to Tell a True War Story" Tim O'Brien
Video:Stanford University:A Conversation with Tim O'Brien on Writing & War
"How to Tell a True War
Story" is not an easy story. As the reader, one feels continuously
antagonized by the narrator. This is because he completely reverts traditional
expectations of reader such as the reliable narrator and the triumph of
morality. Rather his stories are morally ambiguous forcing us to confront the
uncomfortable non romantic truth. For example in the story where Rat Kiley
writes a letter to console Curt Lemon's sister on his death, upon not receiving
a reply Kiley call her a 'dumb cooze'. When the reader learns about Kiley's
heart warming letter he or she is moved by the humanity of Kiley to still be
able to empathize despite being in such inhumane situations. The audience is
led to anticipate an equally moving response, however is abruptly met with
silence on the sister's part as well as Kiley's misdirected anger. This
shattering of the expectation demonstrates O'Brien's questioning of truth,
where he sees the embracement of the morally ambiguous a necessary factor of
understanding. Furthermore he is subverting the traditional medium of writing.
In addition
O'Brien deals directly with the notion of truth. In vein of post modernist
thought, he argues that truth is ambiguous, relative and contradictory. He uses
a wonderful metaphor where the morality of a story is like the thread
that makes up a cloth both are intrinsically related to one another and
impossible to distinguish. He also repeatedly contradicts himself and makes it
clear that narrative truth is not the same as emotional truth. He is
comfortable to contradict himself and thus illustrates the futility of truth
and story telling, a sense of skepticism that permeates post modernism..
Fountain (Duchamp)
Many art historians see Marcel
Duchamp's 'Fountain' as a seminal piece of art that marked the shift of the
post modern understanding of what art is. Duchamp's fountain was created in
1917. He 'created' this piece of work through taking a functional urinal, an
ordinary mass made object and signed his alter ego's name and dated it. He then
submitted it to a salon show however was promptly rejected. By using the
conventions of art, such as the signature and dating as well as the intention
to exhibit it in a gallery, Duchamp challenged the definition of art. What does
it take to make an art object? Is it the artists hand in creating something?
Can it be a ready made object? Does it depend in the context it is shown in?
Does it depend on the relationship with its viewer? In defence of his piece he
states 'Mr Mutt's fountain is not immoral,
that is absurd, no more than a bathtub is immoral. It is a fixture that you see
every day in plumbers' shop windows. Whether Mr Mutt with his own hands made
the fountain has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of
life, placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title
and point of view - created a new thought for that object.' ('The Richard Mutt
Case', The Blind Man, New York, no.2, May 1917, p.5.)
The 'Fountain' marked the transition of art into conceptual art. By turning the piece into an art that examined itself and deconstructed the previous assumptions art it is in line with the post modernist thinking. Furthermore it carries the idea of the definition of art as relative, it not being to exist as an explicit thing on its own but reliant on the relative context it is shown in. A ready made urinal in a bathroom is simply a urinal however when placed in the context of a gallery setting it makes the viewer think about what consists of art. The act of questioning the role of the artist is its very aim.
Gewen, Barry. "State of the
Art." NY Times. N.p., 11 Dec. 2005. Web. 25 May 2013.
Video Credit: www.Khanacademy.org
Conclusion
In conclusion from the examples
of Wikipedia, How to tell a true war story, and the Fountain are all good
examples of post modernism thought. All of them show they challenge the
traditional structure of the industries they operate in. For example Wikipedia
challenges ideas about the author being one person and having credentials, it
challenges the idea that information is static and doesn't change, it also
challenge that information should be free and you don't have to pay for it. For
How to Tell a True War Story, Tim O'Brien challenges the idea that narrative
truth is not the same as emotional truth and it is okay to be an unreliable
narrative. This can be seen directly influenced by war where you can see that
morality is ambiguous and humans are irrational. The view is much more
realistic and no longer romanticizes human ideals. The Fountain also challenged
art conventions and it structure and definition. It asks the question what is
the definition of art. Duchamp proposes that art can be a ready made
manufactured object and it is simply the context and the decision of the artist
to choose it. It is also the beginning of conceptual art, where the idea
presented in the art is more important the physical object of art. Post
modernism demonstrates an attitude that is harshly realistic, challenges the
tradition in which things used to be and fundamentally changed the approach to
all aspects of society.
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Bibiliography
Bibliography
King,
Rosemary. "O'Brien's How to Tell a True War Story." The
Explicator 57.3(1999): 182-84. Print.
'The Richard Mutt Case', The Blind Man, New York, no.2, May 1917, p.5
Gewen, Barry. "State of the Art." NY Times. N.p., 11 Dec. 2005. Web. 25 May 2013.
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