Post Modern Principles Looking at art today through more current categories

Why come up with more terms to discuss art? Today’s artists and educators alike have come to realize that the traditional 7 + 7 (elements & principles) have a strong hold on how we make/ look at our art Art today needed to be created and observed in non-traditional ways- hence the 8 post modern principles: appropriation, juxtaposition, recontextualization, layering, interaction of text and image, hybridity, gazing and representin’ The ‘traditional’ principles still have a place in discussing art of the past/ in general understanding works specific parts BUT the post modern principles give a new interesting twist in creating and looking at art of today 

PM Principle #1: Appropriation Have you ever copied an image from a photograph, advertisement, or other source? When it is OK to do this? When is it not OK? We live in a culture that overflows with images and objects. From television to the Internet, from the mall to the junkyard, we are surrounded by words, images, and objects that are cheap, or free and throwaway. It is not surprising that artists today incorporate this stuff into their creative expression. To appropriate is to borrow or recycle. Appropriation is the practice of creating new work by taking a preexisting image from another source—art history books, advertisements, the media—and transforming or combining it with new ones. Barbra Kruger. C 2006

PM Principle #2: Juxtaposition Juxtaposition is when an artist brings together radically different elements This concept is frequently used in contemporary art works where images and objects from various materials or themes come together in intentional clashes ‘Fur Teacup’ Meret Oppenheim 1936

PM Principle #3: Recontextualization This 19-lettered term refers to positioning a familiar image in relationship to pictures, symbols, or texts with which it is not usually associated. This recombination of material generates meaning in an artwork that would not otherwise result What materials did Hoch combine? What meanings possibly result? Collage by Hannah Hoch

PM Principle #4: Layering “As images become cheap and plentiful, they are no longer treated as precious, but instead are often literally piled on top of each other” – Gude Layering refers to the overlapping of visual information saturating art surfaces as well as creating complex themes Technologies such as photoshop and digital cameras are making this principle particularly popular David Salle, 1989

PM Principle #5: Interaction of Text & Image This principle simply refers to the interplay between text and imagery The text does not necessarily have to describe the image or vice versa- in fact, as the example to the right illustrates, a more interpretive reading results- leaves room for a more flexible reading Barbra Kruger

PM Principle #6: Hybridity In science, a hybrid is created by mixing the characteristic of two different species in order to create one that is better or stronger. In an automobile, a hybrid combines an electric motor with a gasoline engine. What are some plants or animals that are hybrids? How could this idea transfer when we use the term hybridity to describe contemporary art? Artists today are comfortable using whatever seems best to fully investigate and express their ideas or concepts and often move among different media and techniques to express new things in their work. One approach to understanding art today involves identifying what media and materials the artists chose and considering why they chose to work with them. Example of Video Art

PM Principle #7: Gazing This term refers to who the art work is made for, who makes the art work and how this all affects our understanding of reality “In Betye Saar’s imagery right, the traditional meaning of the saccarine (sweet) image is challenged when it is presented with an even more stereotypical depiction of a wide-eyed, red-lipped African-American woman holding a broom in one hand and a rifle in the other, juxtaposed with a life-sized Black Power clenched fist” –Broude & Garrard ‘The Liberation of Aunt Jemima’ Saar, 1972

PM Principle #8: Representin’ Representin’ describes the strategy of locating one’s artistic voice within one’s own personal history and culture of origin. David Wojnarowicz grounded his art in his experiences as a young, gay man in NY during the emerging AIDS crisis – As the title would suggest, his photo work makes reference to the danger of the lack of voice such a community was given – sharing information takes voice; knowledge= power and if this community could not speak out they were essentially wiping themselves out ‘Silence=Death’ David Wojnarowicz, 1990