Depth in a painting turned into Depth in the mind
I find myself having many thoughts about the current Artworld and what credentials a work of art must have to function in the Fine Art realm. I have also been considering the historical aspects and how it has evolved since Medieval art. I am currently in a Contemporary art class and a few weeks ago we read an article by Lucy Lippard and John Chandler that is called, the dematerialization of art. It explains how the Artworld has went from the importance of the object to the importance of the idea behind the object. This confirmed and allowed for things like the readymade, performance, even fairy dust in the corner to be considered Fine art.
I have heard many opinions on whether we are in a Post-postmodernist movement or a Post-post-postmodernist movement. I actually don’t really care much for the debate or which one it is, as long as we can come up with a better name than that! I can only hope that if I reach 80 years old and my grandchildren ask what art movement I was in, I do not have to say (in my grammy voice), “Well kids my art would have been in the Post-post-postmodernist art movement and now we are the Post-post-post-post-post-postmodernist movement.” Or I might as well just have a stroke right there. To avoid that from possibly happening, I am proposing a different title for our current or a few years in the future movement which should be called Self-Expressionism. To better understand why I am proposing this, here is a little context of art history.
The Renaissance was when artists like Michelangelo, perfected linear perspective. This basically means they mastered creating realistic depth in a painting by choosing a point on the horizon. My point is that this is the most depth on a 2D surface any artwork has ever gotten. The paintings were a “window to look through.” My next movement I want to discuss is Impressionism. The painter, Monet, is a good example for this. These artists needed to find a way to add more of an artistic uniqueness to their paintings because around this same time the camera was invented. Their solution was to start showing a more playful use of color and to show off their brushstrokes. This flattened the picture plane slightly because of the visible brushmarks. Now, lets fast forward a bit to Abstract expressionism with painters like Pollock. His drip paintings almost completely flattened the picture plane with the exception of the next artistic movement called Minimalism when a painting was just supposed to be only about the paint. It wasn’t supposed to do anything else or be anything else except paint. It was completely flat and nonrepresentational. During this time, certain artists like Morris took the space that was once in a painting and brought it out into our physical space. The art was no longer offered as something to look through (Michelangelo) or look at (Pollock); but became something for the viewers to physically move through (Morris). Okay, so lets reflect; as time moved art along, the depth that was once in a painting, had slowly come out into our physical space. This is the weird part though; you know that saying, “History repeats itself?” contemporary artwork has now went back inward but instead of the depth being seen in an artwork, it has become about the artists mind. Each individual artist typically represents their own likes, dislikes, inspirations, fears, lifestyles, and life experiences. All along past artists were being influenced by inventions, revolutions, war, other art, being inspired by new art movements and wanting their art to fit into that category too. Basically everything that was around them was informing their work. An example is how Piet Mondrian made paintings that were about restoring order after World War II.
The turning point was when the first MFA degree was offered in 1940. That is where the idea behind the artworks started to become more important. These artists were opened up to a new range of possibilities since they could deem anything as art. This gave them the opportunity to create something completely new and fresh. Unfortunately for me and the future generations of artists, our jobs have become more difficult because nothing is “new” anymore. We study art history to the ends of the earth to gain inspirations from the past to influence our present work. The only “new” we can come with is what each individual artist is passionate about. The title I think that should replace Post-post-postmodernism is Self-expressionism because each artist must focus on what they are passionate about, what strikes them as important, what life experiences have they had and what do they want to say or what do they think needs to be said. That is why I believe there are no more “isms” in art because no two people can have the exact same life, to talk about the exact same thing, in the exact same way. I want to make it clear that I am not bashing any art history in anyway because every one of them has brought us to here and we still are influenced by them all even if we don’t realize it. To me, I have find it very fascinating that the idea of depth is found in each art movement, it just depends on how the artists of that time chose to display it.
I believe I am finished, one because my brain in fried and I really hope you guys can understand my ramblings and two because it is Bryar’s birthday and I must get the dog treats ready. Cheers!