Wednesday, January 04, 2006

A postmodern day for the soul

One of my resolutions was to take 2 days in the studio and one for the soul (of course, they could be the same thing, depending). So,today my friend Seema and I went to see an exhibit at Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts Gallery called “How American Women Artists Invented Postmodernism, 1970-1975." It was art from the early '70s by "Revolutionary Feminists" including Judy Chicago, Faith Ringgold, Miriam Schapiro, Joan Snyder, and others. Sculpture, installation, video, painting, lithographs, and some other things that I can't quite remember. Some of it was boring, some was outrageous, and some of it seemed very dated, given the changes in the last 30 years. But interesting. Of course, since I have no idea how you define "postmodernism," I did a little research. Here is a postmodern excerpt from the definition I found: Postmodernism, like modernism, follows most of these same ideas, rejecting boundaries between high and low forms of art, rejecting rigid genre distinctions, emphasizing pastiche, parody, bricolage, irony, and playfulness. Postmodern art (and thought) favors reflexivity and self-consciousness, fragmentation and discontinuity (especially in narrative structures), ambiguity, simultaneity, and an emphasis on the destructured, decentered, dehumanized subject. Ah - I get it. Here is an example of postmodern art, right in my own studio: an installation that certainly rejects rigid genre distinctions. Is it sculpture? Is it fiber?

Fragmented? You bet. Dehumanized. Totally. Lowbrow? For sure. And a definite pastiche. I was going to organize it tomorrow, but I may have to reconsider. It is just too avant garde.

7 comments:

Jen said...

Rayna,
I loved your post, LMAO. For sure you have some beautiful stuff in your studio. I'll have to remember that "postmodernist" line.

I would have loved that exhibit. Hard to believe that the 70's are ancient history now...Jen

Karoda said...

okay, that was funny after reading the definition and then seeing "your" postmodern piece.

Cathy Kleeman said...

I never understand artspeak. So what comes after Postmodernism?

jenclair said...

Still chuckling over your postmodern piece! I thought from the definition that I was in over my head, but the photo explained it all!

gabrielle said...

Rayna, you slay me...what a hoot! I suggest you take a slide, overall and detail, find some esoteric name for the piece, write an inexplicable artist statement and enter it into some way important art show.

Rayna said...

LOL - the epitome of ARTSPEAK, like those hilarious artists' statements we could download a few years ago if we just plugged in some key word choices.

Gabrielle,you may have something there. But maybe I should bronze it first.

I need all the laughs I can get these days...but don't we all?

Frances said...

Rayna, I love this, like Jenclair I thought you were way outside of my understanding and nearly stopped reading but I should have known you have your feet firmly on the ground, thanks for the laugh,
I bet your piece would be a strong contender for the 'Turner Prize' over here, which is always VERY controversal,

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