Post-Modernism. Art: Twice Removed.

First read the post on Modernism, and this will make much more sense.

So, in the same line of thought in asking about Modernism. What, then, is Post-Modernism?

And so my floundering continues.

Here's what Oxford has to say:

a late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism and has at its heart a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies as well as a problematical relationship with any notion of “art.”

In other words. A sort of modernist response to modernism.

Modernism and Post-Modernism are both very rebellious movements. It's hard to apply any sort of rule or definition upon either of them. I called Modernism 'Art: Once Removed'. So it only makes sense that I call Post-Modernism 'Art: Twice Removed'.

If Modernism is a departure from structure and rules of classical art, then Post-Modernism is a departure from the departure.

The 'Art: Twice Removed' definition makes sense because Modernism and Post-Modernism define one another. Post-Modernism can even be considered a part of the Modernist tree, considering that it's so related. But given the extreme rebellious nature of Post-Modernism, it does to Modernism what Modernism did to the rest of Art.

The Post-Modernist looks at the entire history of Art and says, "Fuck you, I'm doing it this way."

And so he does

The canvas is left behind almost completely. Some still make Post-Modernist art on a canvas, not because it's the rules, but simply because there's no rules in Post-Modernism art so why worry about whether or not to use or not use the canvas in the first place. If it fits my vision, by God I'll use it. But may I remind you, it's not 'cause it's the rules.

Finally the very definition of art gets questioned on a very serious level.

The questions that we ask when looking at an 'art' piece get poked at prodded. Who made it? Do we care? Is there meaning? Do we care? Is the goal of art to make us think or simply get a laugh? Do we care? Is it about composition, meaning, or both? Do we care? What is composition anyway and why are we so damn concerned about it?

Do we care?
Do we care?
Do we care?

And if you do care... why?

And what the hell is the purpose behind all this Art stuff in the first place?

Ideologies behind Art and style get lost in the fray. The step that Pollock took with adding the screws and bolts into the painting get taken several steps further in the hopes for finding originality. Suddenly medias are mixed, styles blend, and we don't recognize Art anymore. Silk screening gets combined with painting and crayon in order to make a pretty picture.

And next to that piece in a museum will be a store-purchased pink bicycle with the words 'I'm an art piece' scribbled on the side with white-out. The base of art gets battered and ransacked until suddenly... the very concept of Art can't take it anymore.

And the death of Art is upon us.