ginny t.: Lyotard
Did you hear that? That was Art’s last gasp. The death knell has been sounded by Lyotard. According to him, Art as he knows it (serious painting and narrative Literature) is dead. And it’s all our fault.
Firstly, he laments “Industrial photography and cinema will be superior to painting and the novel whenever the objective is to stabilize the referent, to arrange it according to a point of view which endows it with a recognizable meaning, to reproduce the syntax and vocabulary which enable the addressee to decipher images and sequences quickly, and so to arrive easily at the consciousness of his own identity as well as the approval which he thereby receives from others...” I take that to mean that he thinks we want out Art/media to do our thinking for us. He implies that if whatever creation is not neatly packaged and clearly identified by the artist (or marketing team) as Art, then most people living in PoMo society will dismiss it. While it’s a cynical, and rather elitist, attitude, it pretty much sums up the ideas about art for a lot people. Why bother taking the time to look at a piece of art or literature and grapple with the images and inject your own meaning when someone on Madison Avenue has done it for you? As long as it’s pretty or entertaining, we’re not picky. And if we’re not particularly impressed by a certain painting or novel or film, we can simply find one that does appeal to us among the constant stream of media and entertainment that we are immersed in on a daily basis.
Secondly, he implies that art consumption in Postmodernity has little to do with beauty and taste, and everything to do with money. Value is now placed on the monetary value of a piece, rather than it’s beauty or meaning. If it can be mass produced and marketed, it is a much more appealing form of art than a little known/valued, yet artistically “superior,” piece. Because art in Postmodernity is more about entertainment and consumption, Lyotard says about taste: "...there is no need to be delicate when one speculates or entertains oneself.” Ouch.
According to Lyotard, this is the new face of Art in Postmoderinty:
2 Comments:
ginny,
naw, you really didn't have to do the picture --- ewww.
but you've got a wicked-good analysis of the rest, thanks.
TYG
Ginny,
Have I told you lately I think you're brilliant?
Amanda
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