ART AND DESIGN DEVELOPMENT WITHIN POSTMODERN

Art and Design Development Within Postmodern



Art and Design Development Within Postmodern

Introduction

Postmodernism is a term that is much in vogue these days in academic circles, and like all such terms and the movements associated with them, is exerting considerable influence upon contemporary theology. If we are to understand postmodernism and its significance for theological life and work, we must first arrive at a reasonably precise definition: just what is post modernity? What is postmodernism? Are they two different concepts or can the terms be used interchangeably? The first difficulty is that there is considerable confusion as to just what the postmodern is. Theologian Tyron In body compares it to intellectual Velcro dragged across culture which can be used to characterize almost anything one approves or disapproves.

Toward a Definition of the Postmodern

Analysis

Theologians are not the only ones who are confused, for in contemporary literary and philosophical circles there are few terms as commonly used, and just as commonly misunderstood, as postmodernism. Umberto Eco, himself classified as a postmodern writer due in large part to his novel The Name of the Rose, has written of postmodernism, I have the impression that it is applied today to anything the users of the term happen to like (Turner, Graeme, 1990).

The process of definition is further confused by the frequent interchange of the terms post modernity and postmodernism. Social scientists tend to speak of post modernity, while those in the arts and humanities prefer the term postmodernism. Post modernity refers more to a cultural condition or state of being while postmodernism focuses more on a cultural movement or a plurality of movements within culture. We might say that post modernity is the condition in which late twentieth-century culture finds itself; postmodernism is a reflection upon that condition and a response to it (Ryan, Michael, 1990).

Perhaps the best that can be said of both post modernity and postmodernism is that they are more than anything -- a state of mind. The postmodern is, to begin with, a way of naming the present socio-cultural reality by those who reflect upon such things. It is the philosophers, sociologists, literary critics, architects, and artists who have coined the term, and it is they who use it most frequently (Rose, Margaret, 1991).

In addition, the postmodern is primarily a phenomenon of Western culture. One cannot speak of the postmodern without first speaking of modernity and modernism, for it is from within Western culture that the modern view of the world has arisen. The postmodern is, therefore, a movement which has arisen in reaction to the modernism of Western civilization. At the same time it is a part of the broader and deeper changes going on in the world today. This is because of the widespread influence of Western culture throughout the world and the fact that the process of modernization continues to bring capitalism, urbanization, technology, telecommunications, and Western popular culture to virtually every corner of the globe (Nietzsche, Friedrich, ...