The postmodern

The PostmodernES

#academic, #functionality, #activist, #utopia

‘We oppose a nihilistic vision of ‘art for arts sake.’ We are interested in an art form that crosses disciplines, integrating both the poetic and the functional’. Lucy Orta, in an interview with Nicolas Bourriard

Broadly speaking, the postmodern can be defined by three strands: Skepticism, irony, and philosophical critique of concepts of universal truth and objective reality. The postmodern, or postmodernity, is a western philosophical movement that began in the late 20th century, largely as a reaction against intellectual values and ideologies of the modern period, of the 17th to 19th century. Indeed, the doctrines characteristically associated with postmodernism can be described as a straightforward rejection of the ‘grand narratives’ of Modernism (or ‘metanarratives’, as Jean-Francois Lyotard coined in his book The Postmodern Condition in 1979), specifically criticising Enlightenment rationality. Postmodernists dismiss the tendency within Enlightenment discourse to adopt ‘totalizing’ systems of thought, and so their reliance on a transcendent and universal truth particularly with regards to biological, historical, and social development. They declare this nature of thinking not only to be false, but also to be imposing conformity on other discourses and so through this marginalising, oppressing, and silencing them. Therefore, as a postmodernist you are skeptical of claims that any explanation, or so called ‘truth’, is ever valid for every culture, every tradition or every race. You believe that truth is relative, and reality is a mental construct.

Postmodern art draws on these philosophies, advocating individual experiences and our interpretation of these experiences as more ‘concrete’ or ‘true’ than a theoretical, overarching principle. Therefore, whilst modernists embraced simplicity and transparency, postmodernists look to the more complex, contradictory and multi-layered aspects of life. As an anti-authoritarian movement by nature, postmodernism refuses to conform to a definition of what art should be, and therefore is not related to a singular style of artistic practice. Through this, it broke the boundaries between what was considered ‘high culture’ and ‘popular culture’, and so between art and life, creating a new period of freedom where ‘anything goes’.

The consciously anti-aesthetic stance of postmodernism has contributed to the increased production of art that is primarily about meaning, rather than aesthetic value, often going into the political. As theorist David K. Holt states:

‘(t)his state of affairs has been brought about by the establishment within postmodernism of the belief that the artist is a rebel and social critic and art is primarily a form of political rhetoric.’ (Holt 85-93)

I started this text with a quote by the artist Lucy Orta, which rejected the notion of ‘art for arts sake’, the primarily modernist ideology that art has its own value and should be judged apart from themes that it might seem to touch on, such as politics, morality, and history. In my opinion, Orta’s work is an example of contemporary art which closely follows postmodern principles. Indeed, in many ways she is exemplary as an artist who is both a rebel and social critic and her art practice is primarily a form of political rhetoric.

Creating what has in fact, by some, been termed ‘postmodern clothing’, Orta’s practice investigates the boundaries between the body and architecture, creating site specific performances and so called ‘interventions’ which are both representational and operational in social issues. Through this, her work is inherently political, functional, skeptical, and anti-aesthetic.

This is particularly evident in her first significant body of work Refuge wear (19928); portable, lightweight, autonomous structures to be worn, that question issues of mobility and survival. Considered as portable habitats, converting to anoraks and backpacks, they respond to both the humanitarian aid appeals for shelter for Kurd refugees as well as the rise in homelessness following the economic recession. Orta’s insistence on involving the public in a more active way, by presenting these works outside of the art gallery context, categorises them as socially engaged, becoming a means to not only make society aware of a growing problem, but also give individuals living in these precarious situations an active voice. In doing so, Refuge Wear follows the philosophy that art should be, as Orta states, ‘active, reactive and act as a trigger catalyst’ , directly opposing the philosophy of ‘art for arts sake’ .

However, perhaps my main reason for choosing Orta’s work as an example of the postmodern is Nexus Architecture (19942002), which I believe to be a defining image of ‘the wayward, postmodern crowd’. The work consists of individual worker’s overalls which are connected to one another by sixty-five centimetre zip connections, called ‘Nexus’, shaping modular and collective bodies that visualise the concept of the social link. As Orta states:

‘Each individual keeps an eye on and protects the other. One’s own life depends on that of the other(…) Physical link weaves social link.’

Through the symbolic linkage of the ‘Nexus’, this work pushes for a community structure in society, investigating the power of unity, performed as public interventions in different social or political contexts. In putting order, specifically of society, into question and defying the limitations of what

is ‘desired’ or ‘expected’, Nexus Architecture becomes ‘wayward’. Furthermore, its focus on social action and politicisation, as well as its absurdity as a performative piece— which is near impossible to manoeuvre— mirrors postmodern ideologies of irony, and of the artist as social critic. This and the forced interconnectedness of individual strangers, which philosopher Paul Virilio interprets as ‘an alarm signal alerting us to a new human fragility and precariousness’ (Coles, 122), embodies the ‘wayward’ and ‘postmodern’ in the ‘crowd’. turns to violence to solve social problems… Oppressive modernity continues to emerge with all its linkages’ (Meštrović 155).

Given that as a movement postmodernism inherently refuses to conform to a definition of what art could or should be, it might also be able to reject conforming to a temporality in art, and so perhaps ‘the postmodern’ continues to surround us today.

Evidently, there seems to be a fluidity in postmodern ideologies that extends into the art of today. Whilst theorist Claire Bishop argues that moving away from the historicity of Modernism and postmodernism is the most generative form of approaching contemporaneity (Bishop, 19), in some ways it seems impossible to fully disconnect contemporary art from the historicity and ideologies of these movements. Similarly, there is a hypocrisy in the postmodern denial of modernist principles, particularly with regards to concepts of ‘the utopian’. For example, whilst Orta’s work encompasses postmodern doctrines relating to truth, exposing political and social tensions within many of her projects, and through this using art as a form of political rhetoric, she in this also addresses a utopian world vision, a concept notably related to modernism. Indeed, through the symbolic social link, does Orta not hope to change attributes in society, such as egocentrism, to alter the way people interact with one another? Orta herself has stated:

‘our goal is to help change people’s attitude and habits, activate debate… and even change current legislation.’

Is this not a utopian vision?

As sociologist Stjepan Meštrović states:

‘It is difficult for the postmodern individual to admit that he or she lives in a modern culture based on barbarism that

Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.18662/po/2016.0701.09 Postmodern Openings, 7(1), 149-164. Broscaean, L., Stan, O. (2016). Transient Structures. Layers of Social Meaning in Conceptual Clothing. London: Whitechapel Gallery, 2007. Dickson, Andrew. “Armed and dangerous: inside the world’s largest raincoat” The Guardian (2015). Accessed 24 September 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/ aug/30/red-coat- nicola-l-world-pop-art-london-tate-modern Green, Charles and Anthony Gardner,

Design and Art. Coles, Alex,. ed, Oxford: Charles Green and Anthony Gardner, 2016. Holt, David K. “Postmodernism: Anomaly in Art-Critical Theory.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 29, no. 1 (1995): 85-93. Accessed September 24, 2020. doi:10.2307/3333520. Lyotard, Jean-François.

Biennials, Triennials, and documenta: The exhibitions that created contemporary art. at the Wayback Machine Introduction:The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, 1979: xxiv–xxv. Archived 2007-06-10 London: Routledge, 1992. Durkheim and Postmodern Culture. Meštrović, Stjepan, . Budney, Blackwell Unboxed: Engagements in Social Space Orta, Lucy. “Lecture: November 25, 2002”, (London: Whitechapel Gallery, 2007) Orta, Lucy. “Work of Lucy Orta.” Lecture, University of Michigan School of Art and Design, Michigan, December 10, 2009 Phaidon Press,

Design and Art (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2011) Ales Coles, ed, Food, Water, Life’ Orta, Lucy., Jorge Orta, New York: Phaeton Press, 2005. Tate, “Postmodernism”. Accessed 29 September 2020. https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/p/postmodernism

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