Re: [-empyre-] Modern Antiques

[saul ostrow <sostrow@gate.cia.edu>]

 Are we already, already  Neo-Modernist seeking to recapture our classic
nihilist values in the name of creating that all elusive present called
the contemporary

"G.H.Hovagimyan" wrote:
> 
> So we?re supposed to riff off whether Modernism is our Classicism.  I
> need to figure out which Modernism we are talking about and from whose
> view point?
> 
> As an American I generally think of the modern world as starting with
> the French and American revolutions. Both are Bourgeois revolutions.
> OK, that means the end of Medieval social structures ( you know, kings,
> serfs)  and the establishment of the Bourgeoisie ideals of science and
> business and private property.
> Personally I don?t think the Modern world has ended.  If anything, the
> ideals of Science and Business keep spreading.
> Anyway , I?m an artist so I think about art, art history and what I?m
> doing as an artist. I believe that Christiane pointed out that there
> are different definitions of Modernity.
> 
> Modern Art it seems to me has three main threads that distinguish it
> from earlier forms;
> 1. Deconstruction or a ?Scientistic? approach to art making that
> involves applying scientific principals to art. This includes a
> dissection of the elements of art and the investigation of it?s
> components.
> 2. The game of art or art as a language game. People often talk about
> this as ?art for arts sake? or art that is about other art.  An amusing
> project is to read some of the 10,000 plus manifestos produced by
> artists in the 20th century.  This list is part of that tradition.
> 3. Perhaps the most interesting thread and the most telling is
> performance art. This is a creative process that is not tied to theater
> and depends on media tools (cameras, recorders, computers) to verify or
> document its? existence.
> 
> Obviously, this may be overly simple but I?d rather discuss art than
> philosophy. I also believe in elevating art rather than debasing it or
> subsuming it to some other discipline such as philosophy or science or
> politics.
> As for art and politics, I really believe that being an artist is a
> political act in and of itself. It is an engagement is a high level
> discourse with the political/social arena. It is similar to the
> dialog/discourse between sculpture and archtecture.
> 
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