Tomorrow's Yesterdays

Exegesis Post VII: Discussion of Studio Practice and Conclusions

2011-01-12T11:35:00.002+11:00

Ed: And finally it's come to the end of the written component of my Thesis. This post is more concerned with a discussion of my painting practice and how the central ideas of Synthetic Modernism relate to my works. Perhaps I've done an ok job, perhaps there's plenty of room for improvement. Either way I hope it's given a little food for thought. I'm looking forward to hopefully expanding this blog into new areas in future posts. We'll all have to wait and see! Thanks to all who have taken the time to read and to those who left comments. It's been a... journey.

Discussion of Studio Practice

    Thus far discussion has focused on the theoretical ideas that form the context in which to position my studio practice. The next section will focus directly on visual investigations made in the studio and how the resulting artworks are situated within a synthetic modernist frame. Rather than discussing each painting individually, the main visual elements included across the body of work and central themes that interconnect the works will be outlined and discussed.
    One of the predominant elements used in my body of work is the grid. It is used within my paintings as a device to simultaneously divide and unite the subject matter. The grid forms the foundation on which the subject matter within the painting is constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed. This presents a complexity of interrelated visual elements within the picture plane, as well as serving as an indicator of progressions in theoretical discourse.
    The fragmentation of subject matter and activation of the paintingʼs surface by the demarcations of the grid was initially used as a means to add interest to an otherwise straightforward depiction of the subject matter. As this approach developed and as theoretical inquiry broadened, it became apparent that the grid holds a profound position in the history of modern art. The presence and structure of the grid alludes to modernist constructs and aesthetics, as discussed by Rosalind Krauss*. The grid gives structure and imposes an order upon the subject matter and the picture plane. Each cell is the same size as the last, giving the painting a sense of measured uniformity contained within the structure of the grid. It is also in no way connected to the subject matter. The grid transcends the space created within the picture plane, existing in a space that is detached from the physical world, and the imaginative world where the subject matter resides. These qualities emulated by the presence of the grid allude quite strongly to modernist attitudes*.
    The grid deconstructs and fragments the picture plane, suggesting a postmodernist reading*. The imposed and transcendent grid doesnʼt make the viewing of the subject matter more distinct or clear. Rather, the grid intrudes and complicates the viewerʼs gaze upon the subject matter. Furthermore, the grid serves to fragment the picture plane. Each cell is treated differently in the way that it is painted and the final look of any one cell is quite distinct from its surrounding cells. This disrupts the modernist reading of a transcendent, absolute order by suggesting that the imposition of a transcendent construct distorts and complicates our view of a natural order rather than giving it cohesion and articulation. In particular paintings Grid and Oak Tree #1, the cells of the grid are painted with drop shadows to give the illusion of three- dimensional space. This trompe lʼoeil treatment of the cells further enhances the fragmentation of the subject matter and builds another layer of meaning into the painting. It simultaneously unites the subject matter with the grid and suggests a plane that is detached from the space of the grid as well as the space occupied by the subject matter. This presents the subject matter as a composite of images converging to make a greater image that exist within an imaginary space between the realm of the abstract and the naturalistic.

Grid and Oak Tree #1
2009
Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
110 x 65cm

The Grid is rendered invisible. In a number of paintings such as Grid and Oak Tree #2, the grid is only defined by the edges of its configured cells. As the layers of paint or collage are applied, the defining lines of the grid are screened from site. Where the grid is defined only by the edges of each cell, rather than by distinct lines, it would appear as a matrix on which the picture is based rather than a dominant visual element. The matrix, as discussed in light of the Kemper exhibition*, is invisible yet forms the substructure for further visual explorations which incorporate pictorial subject matter and the structure of the grid. Treating the grid in this manner establishes a shared relationship with digital technology as will be discussed later.
The grid forms the fulcrum from which these different articles diverge. Considering the presence of the grid one can discuss the ideals and constructs that the grid represented with the modernist movement. By using the grid to fragment and deconstruct the picture plane, a postmodern reading is also available. By treating the grid as a matrix, a synthetic modernist reading emerges, as do links with digitisation. By including these references the aim is to disrupt the application of any one interpretation based on previously held notions or ideas and push the viewer to apply a new reading; ideally one that arrives at the principles of interconnectivity and open-ended narrative.

Grid and Oak Tree Major
2010
Acrylic charcoal on canvas
190 x 120cm

    Investigations into digital animation and its compatibility with painting as an extension to my studio practice developed from a dissatisfaction due to information being lost during the painting process. As styles and techniques in animation were explored and exploited, the integration of digital animation with the painting process expanded the visual experience of the art object. In contrast to artists such as Oskar Fischinger* and Norman McLaren* who used paint as a medium to create animations to push painting and drawing into new directions, or to attempt to give visual form to sound and music, my investigations used animation as a means to connect painting with digital animation. The process of compiling sequential photos of the painting process into an animation displayed to the viewer information contained within the layers of paint upon the canvas. Information is still lost within the process of converting the painterly surface of the canvas to a digital format. A proportion of this loss is countered by the presentation of the finished painting accompanying the animation in the final exhibition of the work.
    In a similar aim to artists such as Albert Oehlen*, who utilises digital technology as part of his painting practice to explore new relationships between the two fields, experimentation into possible relationships between digital media, animation and painting display how each visual presentation can be an art work in its own right. By displaying the imagery together, as a canvas and an animation, interconnectivity between different media is established allowing the viewer to observe further relationships and parallels.
    The use of the horse, the ribcage, the oak tree and self-portrait as motifs was decided on by personal choice and symbolic affinity. On further
investigation and reflection it is apparent that each item can symbolise the containment of diametrically opposed issues, ideas or attitudes within a single entity. Considering this identification, the symbols were used metaphorically to illustrate the tension existing between modern and postmodern attitudes within synthetic modernism. Furthermore, these symbols have been used in the past to interconnect different constructs, such as the divine or spiritual with the physical.

       Xu Beihong
       Horse Galloping
       1944 Ink on Scroll Paper
       60 x 54cm
       Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

The horse is a creature with natural instincts, urges and drives suiting it to the natural environment. In this situation the horse is considered untamed and wild. Numbers of artworks have depicted horses exhibiting these qualities, for example, the ink paintings by the Chinese artist Xu Beihong. In contrast to its wilder depictions, the horse has been subdued and subjugated to further human interests in agriculture, travel and warfare. The imposed ordering and domestication of the horse is well observed throughout history. In the visual arts horses have been depicted in tamed, harnessed and subdued motifs for centuries. There are numerous examples of horses depicted as the mounts of great heros, for example Alexander the Great riding Bucephalus, and Apolloʼs chariot drawn by four horses. The horse symbolises victory and conquest when depicted with human riders or as a status symbol; as if the horse is the embodiment of the riderʼs prowess and potency*. The horse in the wild, however, still exhibits an order and structure. Herds have a language of their own, and a means of communicating submission and hierarchy. There are specific customs when a mare is in heat and a stallion wants to mate. In a similar respect, even when horses have been tamed and put to task, they have been made to perform acts that can be described as brutal and disorderly; for instance their use in warfare. A domesticated horse, if left to its own devices in its natural environment will soon go back to being wild. A wild horse, when given the appropriate attention will adapt to a domesticated environment.
The horse serves as a symbol that connects two worlds. Undesirable and troubling dreams are referred to as nightmares, connecting the dream world or subconscious with the material or conscious world. The horse in early folklore was the messenger of the underworld or realm of the dead* In biblical imagery the beginning of the apocalypse is signalled by four horsemen, ushering the present age into the age to come*.

Grid and Horse Study #1
2009
Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
80 x 35cm

The horses depicted in this body of work are based on the sketches of horses by Leonardo da Vinci and the equestrian statue of the Medici horse. Unlike other paintings included in this research project, the paintings of horses references a very particular time and place; the period of time known as the Renaissance where many of the enlightenment thinkers of the modernist era find the seeds of their ideas. Interest in proportion and geometry were an increasing focus during the Renaissance. The collocation of the horse with the grid suggests a parallel between the investigations into geometry, proportion and beauty by renaissance artists and the pursuits of the modernists; whereby the emphasis on rationalism as a means of arriving at the truth of a subject is evident. The choice of Leonardoʼs horse over other classical renaissance forms is located in his philosophy of art and invention, as Gombrich explains,

“Leonardo here argues from an entirely new conception of art, and he knows it. What concerns the artist first and foremost is his capacity to invent, not to execute; and to become a vehicle and aid to invention the drawing has to assume an entirely different character - reminiscent not of the craftsmanʼs pattern but of the poetʼs inspired and untidy draft."*

    Itʼs not the task of executing the artwork but seeing the execution as the process that the idea precedes. With this attitude in mind the execution of the artwork stems from a fluctuating and ever-developing foundation. Leonardoʼs horse then becomes a symbol for the execution of the idea stemming from the imagination; suggesting that the value of producing art is in the harnessing of the idea and making it tangible. It would then follow that art and the creative act are linked with the on-going, open-ended process of giving visual form and structure to the structureless machinations of the imagination.
    If the aforementioned approach is upheld, it would seem that the creative act is an organic process; much like the way a tree grows, shifts and changes and renews. This becomes the basis for the symbolic use of the oak tree. It grows and its form changes with time. There is no apparent order or formula to how large it grows or what shape it will ultimately take. There seems to be randomness to its branch and leaf configuration. No two leaves are the same and no two trees are identical. Even within the one species of tree there is such a wide and diverse range of characteristics offered by the oak tree. However, there is an amazing amount of complexity and order contained within its form as well. Oaks are commonly known as a very hard, durable wood. In ancient times it was associated with various Gods because of its strength and durability*. Within the oak tree there is an open-ended quality to its structure. It will grow and form indefinitely if left to its own devices. There is also an interconnectedness between its constituent parts as well as with the soil in which it is rooted and the atmosphere it breathes. The ordering and replication of the cell matrix that ultimate makes up the tree is very specific and structured. The Celtic druids believed the oak tree contained divine or mystical properties. They were often worshiped as sacred vessels that allowed for the communion between humans and the divine order of nature.35    The oak tree is a strong symbol in conveying the ideas of synthetic modernism. It symbolises the interconnectivity and unification of distinct and separate elements or phenomena, and demonstrates open-ended characteristics in the way it forms itself.
    The rib cage is another organic form. It occurs naturally in the human body and in much the same way that the oak tree grows organically, so too does the rib cage. There is structure and form within its make up. In many early cultures the bones of a body were equated with strength, for the bones endured long after the flesh*. The form of the ribcage, however, is not fixed. Strictly speaking, the ribcage will grow in size with the growth of the body that contains it. Over time the cells that make up the ribcage will be replaced as old cells die and new cells take their place. In a similar respect to the horse and the oak tree, the ribcage contains an order, a structure and a wholeness, while maintaining a more organic and flexible nature.

Ribcage Study #2
2007
Acrylic on Canvas
100 x 80cm

    The symbolism of the ribcage parallels the nature of the matrix. The matrix is an unseen, underlying structure that interconnects the different components of an image or information set. So too does the ribcage underly skin and muscle, remaining unseen, yet interconnecting the different parts of the body. In mystical texts the body, or torso is the interlocutor between the flesh, the mind and the soul. Not only does the ribcage interconnect the body and its various parts together with their individual symbolisms, it connects the head, which is the cradle for the mind and the spirit. Without the ribcage the head is useless, as are remaining parts of the body*.
    The self-portrait was included to link the surrounding discussion concerning grids with humanity and human cognition. The ribcage depicted in previously discussed works is also a link with humanity and draws parallels between the interconnecting matrices of digital culture with the matrices of the body. However, the head, or the portrait in particular, focusses the discussion more on the mind and cognition, and indicates the mind behind the production of this body of work. Furthermore the very ideas of modernism, postmodernism and synthetic modernism are the product of the human mind. They are constructs that, in this case, have been researched, conceptualised and rationalised along with all their differences, similarities, strengths and weaknesses by the mind of the artist.
    Interposed self-portraiture with the grid highlights the interconnectivity between the grid and the natural world. The rectilinear grid is not something that occurs in nature. There are plenty of examples of matrices occurring in the natural world, the word ʻmatrixʼ comes form the Latin root word meaning, ʻbreeding femaleʼ or ʻwombʼ. In biology the word matrix is used to describe an organic structure that surrounds and develops entities. It is also used to describe the substance that interconnects the cells in a living organism*. The matrix is something that is found both in the natural world and the man-made world. It is used to describe the mortar that holds bricks together, or the plate on which letters for a typeface are arranged and assembled. The grid, however, remains a symbol and a structure that is artificial and man-made. Despite the abstract quality of the grid, it still remains an intrinsic part of human life. For centuries human kind has utilised the grid in various pursuits such as mapping and cartography, city planning, mathematics and geometry, as well as the visual arts.39 Wherever the grid appears, it serves to indicate human interaction and intervention. The grid symbolises how the thoughts and actions of humans are interconnected with their ability to self-actualise and their environment. Linking the self with the grid and my art practice, and using it to symbolise the interconnected narratives that exist within our culture seemed quite apparent.

Grid and Self-Portrait Study
2010
Oil and acrylic on canvas
61 x 76cm

The horse, the oak tree, the ribcage and self-portrait symbolise how two attitudes or sets of characteristics can be contained in a single phenomenon. The incorporation of these four subjects that exhibit dualisms furthers the discussion surrounding the grid and synthetic modernism. This is achieved by drawing the parallel between the dualistic nature of each symbol and the
dualistic nature of synthetic modernism. Furthermore, they serve to symbolise the principle of interconnectivity and open-endedness.

Grid and Ribcage Major

2009

Acrylic and mixed media on canvas

122 x 180cm

    Text has also been included in a number of the images to further support the ideas embodied in works such as Grid and Ribcage Major. Text is a device used to communicate information. It is a coded system with rules and procedures that govern its use and determine, to an extent, its decoding and interpretation. Text conforms to a grid-like configuration; much the same way that values within a matrix arrange themselves. Text is constructed; however, the meaning signified by the text can be manipulated and interpreted in countless possible ways. Thus, as text conveys a simultaneous order and structure which enables endless outcomes of expression and communication so too does the nature of constructing, ordering and expressing information through visual means of communication. Furthermore, written text demonstrates interconnectivity between different components, paragraphs and words, and allows for an open-endedness in the different modes and expressions it can use to convey information, or the quantities of information that can be conveyed.
    The painterly techniques I have utilised are varied and experimental. Often the mark making is done with different objects and with different media. Throughout the paintings produced for this research project, I have built successive layers of paint and mixed media on the canvas to evoke a sense of history and to create different visual effects to enhance the quality and interest of the painted surface. The aim is to juxtapose and assimilate a broad range of techniques to further centralise the idea of interconnectivity. The accidental and experimental application of media demonstrates processes that have unknown outcomes. The chance nature of some of the techniques allows for endless possible outcomes and interpretations leaving the finished product in a state of open-endedness.

Conclusion

    This research project was initially focussed on establishing links between modern and postmodern trends to form a theoretical framework to support links between digital media and painting. As information unfolded two issues became very apparent. Modernism and postmodernism are very broad and elusive issues to try to define, as the material in the appendices illustrates. So much so that any discussion of postmodernism and modernism seems inapplicable to contemporary attitudes. It appears to be the case that despite the predominance of these two attitudes in contemporary discourse, a convincing argument can be mounted to redefine where we are presently, and where we might be heading.    We are living in a time where connections are being made cross-culturally, interpersonally and cross-disciplinarily at such an increasing rate that any consideration to summate all the diversity present in the world into a grand, unifying theory is quite laughable, and deconstructing difference till we have nothing left to base individuality and diversity on would only seem to work towards the same banal conclusions. Synthetic modernism does not attempt to repeat modernism in explaining everything, nor does it seek to disrupt and destablise theories that may give meaningful intelligibility to oneʼs view of reality; rather it offers an approach that appreciates difference and accounts for diversity. It seeks out connections that may bring these differences together, while leaving room for further developments to take place. As we head into a future where technological and creative developments are working in favour of connecting people, and giving them the opportunities to share their personhood and individuality, a beneficial position to be in, would be to celebrate this growing sense of interconnectivity while allowing the individual narratives of different cultures, societies and creative expressions to develop organically.
    The aim to explore relationships between digital media and painting proved to be quite an ambitious project. The theoretical links between painting and digital media have been established through the use of digital animation and the relationship the grid shares with my painting practice and digital formatting. Further relationships are observed when the grid is used as a matrix to connect visual components of the painting, in much the same way a digital matrix coheres pixels in a digital image. Within practical research the vast amount of avenues to explore in this field have been left wide open. While direct links and creative output have not been at the forefront of this project, the initial question of articulating the central principles of synthetic modernism and evidence to suggest that these principles are on the increase in current thinking has been identified and documented.
    The success of the studio practice lies in the ability of the paintings to illustrate the principles of interconnectivity and open-endedness. In so doing the central tenets of synthetic modernism are supported. This aim has been achieved through the allusion to modernist motifs such as the grid and postmodernist visual elements such as fragmentation of the picture plane. Combining these elements suggests there is a synthesis or middle ground to be found. The use of the horse, the ribcage, the self-portrait and the oak tree as symbols further serves to illustrate the interconnected nature of organic and naturally occurring forms with human constructs. By leaving the interpretation of said symbols open to the viewer an open-ended quality is inherent in the viewing of the works. Chance elements such as the spilling of paint and successive layering of paint emphasises the history of the painted surface and increases the open-ended dialogue the viewer establishes with it.

* footnotes available upon request

Exegesis Post VI: Introduction and Discussion of Synthetic Modernism

2010-09-10T17:53:00.000+10:00

Ed: You may be tempted to think Synthetic Modernism is some bright new shiny theory that will emancipate our thinking from the confusion of postmodernism or the disappointment of modernism... Sorry to let you down. After reflecting on these concepts for some time it seems more apparent that Synthetic Modernism is merely an attempt to balance the two in order to keep things humming along. I may have stated earlier, I don't think there's too much value in deconstructing everything, nor do I believe anyone should remain static in there thinking. Rather, I think we must, with all due responsibility, at least make an attempt to hold a position in order to see if it's defensible or not. And the process of figuring this out should be at least a side project to the outworking of our existence. Perhaps this approach applies to pursuits in art as it does to the more existential pockets of our state of being. So with no more said, I hope the following contributes to a wider consideration of what is, and perhaps what could be.

Introduction to Synthetic Modernism

Synthetic modernism is a working title chosen to aid in the positioning of my art practice within the ﬁeld of contemporary art theory. The term is taken from Peter Hillʼs discussion surrounding his long-term project titled Super Fictions.* Further support is taken from recent ideas such as Matrix Art*and Nicolas Bourriaudʼs Altermodernism*, which reinforce the notion that postmodernism has reached itʼs zenith and has begun its decline as a predominant or popular theoretical position.

Synthetic modernism, as it relates speciﬁcally to my art practice, has been chosen due to the personal scepticism held towards modernist and postmodernist views concerning art, and the inability either attitude has to maintain a progressive foundation on which to base theoretical considerations surrounding my art practice. Modernism, as a deﬁnable idea, is based on the climate of rationalism, technological advancement and reason stemming from the european enlightenment of the eighteenth century.* This positivist attitude would be the driving force behind major themes in modernist art culminating in the decisive attempt at deﬁning the autonomy of the visual experience.* In contraposition, postmodernism is deﬁned as the deconstruction of any such ideas of autonomy, both inside the art community and beyond. Postmodernism is not an attitude with any such principles or philosophies; rather it is the process itself of interrogating and systematically deconstructing any notion that purports to be an absolute truth or totalising, unifying, universal understanding of reality.* As postmodernist inﬂuences shaped movements in the arts, the focus shifted from what art is, to what art could do. Artistic movements became indifferent to the search for meaning within its own boundaries, rather it sought to use art as a vehicle for interrogating political, cultural and social ideologies.* A more detailed and extensive discussion of modernism and postmodernism and their respective inﬂuences on the arts can be found in the appendices of this exegesis. Synthetic modernism, however, does not dismiss previously held positions of modernism or postmodernism completely; rather, it seeks to blend or synthesise the positive elements of both positions. Hence, the title Synthetic Modernism.

There are two themes included in my body of work which position it within the synthetic modernist paradigm. The ﬁrst theme is the adaptation and blending of modernist and postmodernist motifs and visual elements. These include the utilisation of the grid, and symbolic motifs which embody competing yet harmonious ideologies. The predominant symbols used are the horse, the ribcage, the oak tree and self-portrait. The second theme is the investigation into digital animation and photography within my painting practice.

Other elements used to further support my ideas are fragmentation of the picture plane and subject matter; the use of text, and a diverse yet congruent range of painterly techniques. Combined, these elements build the foundation for theoretical themes such as interconnectivity and open-ended narrative which, in theory, further support a synthetic modernist reading.

Discussion of Synthetic Modernism

In response to the insufﬁciency of modernism to establish a progressive, unifying theory*, and the epistemological nihilism with which postmodernism inevitably concludes*, it naturally follows that a positive, intentionally constructed system must be established: a system that values how meaning can be articulated to give us a more cohesive interpretation of reality, while allowing itself the advantage of critique and review in order to progress with time. For further incorporation of new discoveries and considerations, it would be necessary for this approach to remain open-ended. Given that we live in an age where a variety of meanings and world views exist, it would also be beneﬁcial for there to be a certain degree of interconnectivity between differing systems of creative thought in order for new discoveries and syntheses to be made. This is what the synthetic modernist position purports to establish; a theoretical framework which provides a foundation for a multiplicity of avenues to further explore; rather than one that stiﬂes itself or implodes.

The term ʻSynthetic Modernismʼ is borrowed from Dr. Peter Hillʼs 2000 exegesis entitled ʻSuperﬁctions: The Creation of Fictional Situations in International Contemporary Art Practiceʼ. Hillʼs extensive and ongoing work concerning Superﬁctions is identiﬁed as one manifestation of synthetic modernism which grew from ʻa feeling of frustration in the early eighties with the terms ʻmodernismʼ and ʻpostmodernismʼ and aims to show ʻthat a synthesis might exist of the most tenable aspects of modernism and postmodernism.ʼ In an e-mail correspondence with Dr. Hill on February 8th 2010, he described the development of his concept of synthetic modernism in these terms:

ʻBack in 1983 the term postmodernism was increasingly being used in the visual art world - although it had been around for much longer. By 83 it was really taking hold, often I felt in an unthinking or uncritical sort of way. In Italy, Achille Bonito Oliva had been using the term trans-avantgarde which he claimed was Europe's answer to postmodernism and grew from painting (whereas he said postmodernism was American and grew from architecture). In most cases postmodernism seemed to be set up against modernism as if they were rival football teams that had nothing in common. I felt that while the two extremes of each movement might be like that, there was also a middle ground that overlapped - a synthesis, or mixture, if you like, which I called synthetic modernism. This was similar to the way in which Cubism evolved. First it broke completely with the past and we had analytical Cubism. Then, according to Apollinaire, Synthetic Cubism appeared when Picasso synthesised the whole history of Western art with Cubism.ʼ

The ʻtenable aspectsʼ of modernism and postmodernism, and the resultant theories of synthetic modernism may differ between Hillʼs work and what this research project aims to achieve. However, the identiﬁcation of the ʻoverlapʼ between modernism and postmodernism remains a shared goal. Thus, synthetic modernism is used, with permission, as a working title for the purposes of this research.

In order to avoid the main body of this text becoming dominated by an historical overview of twentieth century art movements and theoretical positions, a survey of modernism and postmodernism, required to arrive at an informed concept of synthetic modernism, can be found in the appendices herein.* Insofar as the deﬁned ideas of modernism and postmodernism are sustained, synthetic modernism, as supported by this body of research, holds two central principles. The ﬁrst being interconnectivity between distinct systems, whether they be disciplines, philosophies, ideas or worldviews; and the second being open-ended and progressive discourse within each system. Considering issues such as multiculturalism and globalisation, the case emerges that a multiplicity of systems exists. Interconnectivity between these systems implies a degree of constructed meaning. However, rather than establishing one system as dominant and dictatorial, it would be beneﬁcial to allow for equal consideration to see how different systems can work together. One such example of this occurring is Nicolas Bourriaudʼs exhibition entitled ʻAltermodernʼ.

In April 2009 the Tate Modern hosted a triennial entitled ʻAltermodernʼ.* The curator of this show and curator of contemporary art at the Tate Modern in London, Nicolas Bourriaud, constructed this exhibition based on the idea that postmodernism is no longer a dominant paradigm. Bourriaud goes as far as saying that postmodernism is dead, and in its wake society is presently in a position to redeﬁne modernity from a global perspective, focussing on issues such as interconnectivity, multiculturalism and the dissemination and interaction of information technology.

Bourriaudʼs manifesto of ʻGlobal Altermodernityʼ* emphasises the effects that globalisation has on economics, politics and culture. We are now living in a world where it is easier to travel; information is far more abundant and accessible than ever before; and the cultural boundaries between nations are blurring or creolising at an ever increasing rate. Rather than identifying dominant centres of cultural inﬂuence we are moving towards systems of dispersed but interconnected loci of cultural development. As a result, artistic expression shifts from deconstructing ideologies and notions into a new age of interconnectivity. Artists are utilising new technologies such as digital formats that connect dialogue with feedback, which in turn can connect their work with the world wide web. This connects them cross-culturally with an international audience and other artists. Art is increasingly incorporating travel, information technology and cross cultural discourse. Culture and travel is seen as a different media to work with which interlaces and undergirds life, expression and art. For example, Paris based artist, Loris Gréaud, one of the featured artists in the Altermodern exhibition, recorded his brain-wave frequencies which he then transmitted to a room ﬁlled with a network of devices that translated his neural activity into minute, seismic tremors. A representation of his unseen thoughts about a previous exhibition were made concrete by incorporating technology with his art practice.

Walead Beshty from Los Angeles passed undeveloped photographic ﬁlm through x-ray scanners at airports while airfreighting empty, glass cubes around the world. The ﬁlm has developed into large, abstract prints recording the moment the ﬁlm crossed from one country into another. The glass cubes sustained fractures and chips as they traversed international zones, visually recording the act of travel. These two artists demonstrate how contemporary art has moved into a time of embracing interconnected methods of creating that incorporate a far wider array of processes and technologies than ever before.

Loris Gréaud
Tremors Where Forever (Frequency of an Image, White Edit)
2008
Modiﬁed Micro vibrations, software, plexiglass console and white paint
Dimensions Variable
GréaudStudio & Yvon Lambert, Paris/New York.

Another example of arts and culture showing distinct shifts away from postmodernism and displaying parallels with synthetic modernist principles, is observed in an exhibition hosted in 2006 by the ʻMildred Lane Kemper Art Museumʼ at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts in Washington. The exhibition titled ʻGrid<>Matrixʼ connected artists such as Mondrian and Rauschenberg who explored the use of the grid in modern art, with contemporary artists such as Albert Oehlen and Carsten Nicolai who explore the ideas congruent with the recent development of ʻmatrix artʼ.

Walead Beshty
(on ﬂoor)
Installation of FedExr(r) large Kraft boxes(c) 2005 FedEx 330508, International Priority, Los Angeles -Tijuana, Tijuana-Los Angeles, Los-Angeles- London, October 28, 2008 January 16, 2009
2008-ongoing
Glass with safety glass lamenate, silicon and cardboard
Wallspace, New York/China, Art Objects Galleries, Los Angeles
(on wall)
(left)Transparency (Negative) [Kodak NC Color Film: May 8 - May 18, 2008 ORD/LHR LHR/IAD IAD/JFK LGA/DCA DCA/ORD]
2007
(centre)Transparency (Positive) [Fuji Provia Colour Film: October 19 - October 21, 2007 ORD/LAX LAX/ORD]
2008
(right)

Transparency (Positive) [Fuji Provia Colour Film: April 7 - April 13, 2008 ORD/LAX LAX/ORD]
2008
Wallspace, New York/China, Art Objects Galleries, Los Angeles

Matrix art, as introduced by the Kemper exhibition, continues the dialogue of visuality and form concerning the grid where the modernist critique ended. It refocusses the discussion surrounding grids from a contemporary perspective. It does this by contrasting the structure of the grid with the nature of the matrix. The modernists, as discussed by Krauss, rendered the grid static and unable to progress. The acclamation of the grid as the purity of form and visual experience backed modern art into an inescapable corner. Matrix art, by contrast, acknowledges the grid as an underlying structure and integral part of visuality. However, the grid, in the context of matrix art, forms the foundation on which unending avenues of visuality can be explored rather than being curtailed. Matrix art doesnʼt revise modernist considerations of the grid, rather it pushes the grid into territory where new avenues of exploration emerge; as Sabine Eckman identiﬁes,

“Most often static in nature, grid-like structures, spaces and images approach the viewer as immediately recognisable and hence devoid of unwanted surprises. Digitally based matrices, by way of contrast, set the modernist grid into motion. They have the ability to catalyse visual expressions and experiences that, in spite of their algorithmic foundations, aim at open-ended and often unpredictable transformations. Grid and matrix, as presented in this exhibition, form a central dialectic of modernist and postmodernist culture. The exhibitionʼs aim is not to tell a story of linear historical progress, but to explore continuities and ruptures between the analog and the digital, between the organisational principles of older and newer media.”*

This dialectic between modernism and postmodernism that Eckman identiﬁes, suggests there is a synthesis to be made between these two perspectives. Here, the modernist position associated with the grid appears to be re-instated within the discourse of contemporary art criticism, while matrix art is association with a postmodern position. The ʻcontinuities and rupturesʼ between these two attitudes explored by the Kemper exhibition, show distinct parallels with the principles of synthetic modernism. What was rendered static and unable to progress by the modernist grid is revitalised by the developments in matrix art.

The underlying structure of matrix art is the grid. However, the nature it takes on is quite distinct from its modernist cousin. The grid, when treated as a matrix, dissolves and becomes invisible. Each cell of the grid then becomes a platform on which different values can be assigned. While the matrix is still conﬁgured in a grid format, it is in no way dependent on the grid itself as a visual component. The matrix also establishes links with digital technologies, such as digital imaging and binary code communications. As these technologies have been incorporated into visual culture, the dialogue of the grid and its relationship to visuality reemerges. Within this context, however, it opens up possibilities rather than closes them off.

In contrast to postmodernism, matrix art reestablishes structure, or constructs, and is dependent upon it. This is evident in the conﬁguration of any matrix grid; for example the arrangement of pixels in a digital photo. Rather than seeing the grid as an end state to arrive at, as particular modernist theorists maintained, matrix art uses the grid as a foundation to build upon, leading to countless possibilities for further visual investigations. This quality of being structured while simultaneously open-ended, insofar as its capacity for change and ﬂuctuation is concerned, parallels the principle of open-ended discourse. This quality relates well to synthetic modernist considerations. Furthermore, the tension between structure and ﬂux echoes the tension between modernist and postmodernist aesthetic attitudes. As Eckman continues,

“By contrast we may argue that the matrix is unpredictable, ﬂuid, disparate, disjunctive, ambi- and multivalent, and, importantly, frequently invisible. The digital matrix consists of pixelated, visual bits created by a binary code of numbers, transforms the static modernist grid into a moving conﬁguration, one that never the less is still informed by the basic structure of the grid. Yet, in contrast to the modernist grid, the digital matrix may remain invisible and is capable of forming images independent from its own structure.”*

The Kemper exhibition provides an insightful cross-section of the presence of the grid within modern art as well as a revealing interchange of ideas stemming from the perceived inadequacy of the modernist grid. Furthermore, the exhibition raises discussion concerning the relationship between digital media and painting. As Lutz Koepnickʼs commentary on the Kemper exhibition identiﬁes,14 the nature of arranging different pixels on a plane and assigning different values to each pixel mimics the act of painting more than that of photography. This is a very interesting observation considering the perceived impact digital technology has had on more traditional modes of image making. Furthermore, this supports the notion of relationships existing between painting and digital technology; and again emphasises the growing climate of interconnectivity.

A number of artists included within the Kemper exhibition investigate the incorporation of digitally based image making with various other artistic techniques. One artist who has effectively combined digital imagery with painting is Albert Oehlen. Oehlenʼs abstract painting The Annihilator combines digitally printed images created on a computer onto canvas which are then painted back into. This approach to the canvas links the two media effectively in a painterly practice and in so doing pushes painting into unfamiliar territory. As Eckman comments,

“The painting renders an unpredictable and dynamic chaos of abstract layers of colour patchworks and lines, interspersed, surprisingly, with some grids. For those who have used imaging software, it is immediately obvious that a computer was at work here; Oehlen lays bare the electronic making of the painting. His own added painterly marks can be seen as a conceptual strategy that engages human creativity with that of a computer. With this approach Oehlen challenges the very possibility of painting an abstract and expressive canvas today. Yet we might also grasp his large-scale painting as putting a positive twist on the effects of the computer generated images on the medium of painting, namely that the combination of digital innovations with conventional traditions of painting, opens up new avenues for creativity and the creation of the imaginative worlds.”*

The establishment of connections between different media further highlights the presence of interconnectivity in contemporary art as well as opening up an inﬁnite amount of ideas to explore. The shift from modernist grids to more contemporary matrices is an apt illustration of shifts from modernist or postmodernist attitudes to something that more effectively corresponds to human experience; an attitude that gives shape to meaning while allowing it to progress.

Another artist represented in the Kemper exhibition who is showing a prominent presence in the contemporary art community is Carsten Nicolai. Nicolaiʼs work was included in the exhibition as a matrix art piece due to its open-ended nature and the obvious resemblance it has to a grid conﬁguration. The work entitled modular re.strukt is a screen printed, geometric pattern repeated over the entirety of one of the exhibition walls. Viewers are invited to ﬁll in sections of the pattern with a black marker forming shapes and conﬁgurations at their own leisure, with their own imagination. The pattern Nicolai has chosen has obvious links with the grid, however, rather than leaving the pattern as a ﬁxed, repeated and static conﬁguration, he has allowed for chance and unlimited outcomes as viewers customise its appearance. The artwork will never have the same outcome from exhibition to exhibition and the quantity of geometric shapes and corresponding patterns that can be made by the viewers is limitless. As each participant adds further forms to the wall piece, it changes the experience for the next viewer.

Albert Oehlen
The Annihilator
2001-6
Inkjet, oil and lacquer on canvas,
372 x 708cm
Galarie Max Hetzler, Berlin.

Interactive and interconnected media are a strong element to Nicolaiʼs work. He often uses sound, digital technology and scientiﬁc apparatuses in the execution of his art works. For example, snow noise16 is an installation that allows for audience participation in the creation of snowﬂakes. The installation is constructed from a series of laboratory boxes that reduce the temperature of glass tubes contained within to below 25 degrees Celsius. The result is a unique snow crystal which the viewer is then able to see through a lens. Nicolai effectively demonstrates how highly ordered and constructed instruments are used to generate random and inﬁnitely variable phenomena. The visual focus of the installation is also dependent on the viewer for its actualisation. Snow noise uses the snowﬂake as a metaphor for the creative act. However, the snowﬂakes are not created in a vacuum; they are the product of a highly structured and complex environment. Rather than order and structure remaining static and lifeless, or an end in itself, it forms the foundation on which countless varieties of visual forms can occur; in this case the production of snow crystals.

Carsten Nicolai
modular re.strukt
2003
Installation of silkscreen prints
Dimensions variable
Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin.

Nicolaiʼs works not only demonstrate how contemporary art can be open-ended, but also demonstrates the interconnectivity between the media, the participating viewers and the artwork itself. Nicolai also demonstrates how the combination of highly ordered and complex mechanisms form the underlying structures that make the production of any number of creative outcomes possible. His use of scientiﬁc apparatuses can be read as a metaphor for the creativity of humans; much like the artist, who is a complex and rational human being who can produce countless creative acts. This approach speaks of a complex interconnectivity between what humans can create and the natural order of this world, and how the two are so intertwined and connected that there is very little room to categorise them in distinct and separate ﬁelds.

(Above)
Carsten Nicolai
Snow Noise
2001
Acylic tubes, polystyrene boxes with copper tubes, dry ice, lamp with magnifying glass, wall drawing, sound, random noise generators
Dimensions Variable
Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig/Berlin, Germany, and PaceWildenstain, New York, USA
(below)
Snow Noise Detail
Close-up of snowﬂake formation

The previous examples have been concerned with artists and movements that have shaped the ideas that underpin my work. They have also furthered the discussion and direction of my visual investigations. However, there has been a distinct lack of visual continuity between works I have made in the studio and works included in the movements and exhibitions discussed so far. One particular artist who has shown a remarkable amount of success with his paintings, who emulates very similar ideas, and uses familiar visual techniques to my own is Chuck Close. His contemporary practice is a good example of how a dual process of thought is considered in a visual and artistic way. In a similar progression to my own practice, Close began with the literal depiction of himself through portrait painting. Closeʼs earlier work used the grid in the process of transferring photographic images onto his large-scale canvases. Rather than aiding the visual quality of the painting it was used as a tool for transferring visual information. In more recent times Close has moved into a process-driven, painterly approach that incorporates the grid as a means of disrupting the picture plane and the subject matter while allowing the original, photographic nature of the subject matter to remain. At a distance it is impossible to dismiss the photographic quality of his paintings; they are clearly based on photographs taken in a studio setting. The colours employed and the atmospheric devices within his portrait paintings betray the mediation of the camera in the process of transferring the photographic portrait to the canvas. At the same time that the photographic traces are observed, it is impossible to focus the image with your eye.

The painterly style Close employs continually disrupts the viewing experience, to the point that any section of the canvas looked at closely dissolves into an abstract arrangement of expressive circles and brush strokes. It is impossible to focus on any one square without reading it as a small part of the greater whole. There is an interconnected relationship between each square and the entire painting. Close has used the grid effectively in a process driven approach to the subject matter of portraiture that gives order and cohesion to his body of work and allows for ongoing and differentiating outcomes. This process has uniformity and an order. Close works on his paintings in a very ordered and methodical way. However, no two paintings are alike. Whether he changes the person he is painting, or changes the conﬁguration of the grid, or the method he applies the paint with, it is evident that the foundation he has built on in order to produce his artworks has a very open-ended quality. Close has also been known to apply paint on the canvas or ink on the printing press to mimic the process of digital colour printing.* The nature of his layering techniques, combined with his photographic translations and the use of the grid displays a strong relationship to the theme of interconnectivity. It is arguable that Closeʼs work can be positioned within a synthetic modernist position, taking into account the open-ended and interconnected qualities of his work. Furthermore, the emergence of Closeʼs art practice coincides with the development of the minimalist art movement in the 1960s. As suggested elsewhere in this research paper, the emergence of postmodernist theories soon followed. Closeʼs structured, methodical, process-driven art practice shows little deterrence throughout the postmodernist period, and the modernist critique shows little effect on his work either.*The on-going and steadfast nature of Closeʼs art practice, and its resistance to theoretical critique would add further support to placing him within a synthetic modernist position, suggesting that Closeʼs works, practice and underlying principles are based on something that transcends either postmodernism or modernism.

Chuck Close
Self-Portrait
2004-5
Oil on canvas
260 x 215cm
PaceWildenstein, New York

Imants Tillers is another artist that demonstrates synthetic modernist concerns and bares several similarities to my own art practice. The most striking likeness being the use of the grid to divide and unite the painted image. Tillers paints reproductions of well known artworks from art history onto multiple canvas boards. The end result is a tableau of panels all comprising the ﬁnished work. Much like the work of Chuck Close, each section of the gird structure can be read as a distinct painting while also being part of a greater whole. There is an interconnected quality evident in his works as each panel has been treated differently yet contributes to the greater narrative of the work. This lends well to the practical concerns of painting large scale images in small studios and to Tillersʼ philosophical considerations, as described in his monograph Imants Tillers: One World Many Visions,*

“The idea of one and many, of the unity and the multiple, and of an interconnecting web-like whole, relates to the distinctive and remarkable system Tillers has developed for his art... ...like components of an evolving puzzle gradually expanding form the parts to the whole... It reveals the ﬂuid, dynamic interaction in Tillersʼ art between intimacy and expanse, movement and stillness, permanence and impermanence.”

Moreover, as Tillers paints each board he numbers them. The number sequence continues on from painting to painting resulting in an accumulated sequence of individual panels numbering beyond 80,000. This ongoing sequencing of his paintings plus the inﬂuence from the writings of Ludwig von Bertalanffy who poses ideas of ʻopen system viewsʼ21 introduces a profound open-ended quality to the over-arching narrative of Tillerʼs works.

It is interesting to note that Tillersʼ practice emerged as movements such as earth-art and conceptual art were building momentum, a time of intense interrogation within the art world. Tillers, like Close, maintains a distinct approach and methodology to his work; a methodology that spans the period of time that postmodernism is seen to emerge. The examples of Close and Tillers illustrate how structured yet open-ended narratives and interconnectivity show greater signs of persistence as artistic and cultural narratives. This persistence further grounds the synthetic modernist position as a strong paradigm to adhere to.

Imants Tillers
Mount Analogue
1985
Oil, oilstick and synthetic polymer paint on 165 canvasboards
280 x 170cm
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

* footnotes available upon request

Exegesis Post V: Postmodern Art; Discuss.

2010-04-20T08:58:00.001+10:00

Ed: And on to postmodern art... or whatever you call it.

    One cannot overlook the effects of postmodernism in the succession of art’s greater historical narrative. Furthermore, the postmodern critique of modernism must be addressed to review its strengths and weaknesses.

    One could argue the effects of the postmodern movement has been a worthwhile progression from modernism, and the subsequent explorations and interrogations of modernist constructs has lead to a proliferation of new and innovative means of expression. A negative reaction to the constructs of modernism may well have been an inevitability, or even an unintended outcome of history. However, rather then a graduated progression from the grid, art turned from being a pursuit of what visuality meant to a visual means of communication. In so doing, art became the vehicle for the expression of political ideologies rather than philosophical inquiry into visual form.

Following minimalism, the earth artists such as Robert Morris, and Robert Smithson reduced the production of art objects to the manipulation of natural materials within their natural environment. Expression became process and form became architectural as large scale, process driven installations continued the trajectory traced by modern art.*
    Within a fluctuating, natural environment and an emphasis on process rather than commodification; combined with the use of natural materials rather than traditional art making methods, art was ejected from all previously held institutions. What followed was a proliferation of movements including conceptual art, interrogations of architectural form and implementation of new media.35With the boundaries of art widened to imperceptible horizons, focus shifted from philosophical ideology to using art as a vehicle for political expression. Movements such as video art, installation art, pop art, and conceptual art soon became the vehicles for attacking and interrogating all manor of institutions, traditions and social conventions within and outside of the field of art. Gender and gender roles came under attack along with social identity, cultural taboos, the museum, sexuality, and many other societal constructs as the postmodernist era of art became more distinct from its modernist host. In the same vein as writers such as Lyotard, Baudrillard, Derrida and Foucault, the incessant deconstruction of western ideals and conventions soon became a predominant motivation within art.

    One may consider the pursuits of the modern artists to project a degree of nobility. The desire to establish the autonomy of the art object may have seemed a worthy challenge. However, the act of imposing a fixed and structured order on an elusive and fluctuating subject is bound to have its pitfalls. As discussed by Krauss, the very act of defining that which by nature is progressive and constantly developing, only serves to negate it.

     Postmodern art, on the other hand pushes art into the realm of the elusive until art itself becomes so ethereal that any attempt to establish something meaningful is rendered redundant before it’s even articulated. If the main motivation for postmodern art is to deconstruct and negate social and political institutions. Doesn’t this negate the creative act which is inextricably linked with the visual arts? The principle at the center of postmodernism starts off from a position of no recovery. The ironic point to be made is that while the postmodernists exit meaning as an objective of art, they do so by depending on meaningful and constructed methods.

* footnotes available upon request

Exegesis Post IV: Modern Art; Discuss.

2010-03-29T15:14:00.002+11:00

Ed: Moving from the general to a more specific discussion of modernism in relation to modern art... There's no telling what will happen when you put your writing out on the web. There's been some great feedback so far, most of which I have received quite well. I must admit that I'm not that well equipped to tackle these issues, and so putting my writing out there is a process of refining my ideas more than an attempt to influence the world. So without any more...

   Within the discipline of art the impact of modernism and postmodernism is well documented. The emphasis placed on rationalism by the modernists precipitated the ideals and approaches of modern artists and theorists. Considering the general modernist climate, the modernist art movement can be defined as the quest for the essence of the visual experience*. The proliferation of artistic movements following the production of the photograph were not all focused on refining the visual experience back to its constituent parts; however the push towards defining the autonomy of the art object and identifying the purity of form and visuality were among the major themes for modernist art movements.

    Following the invention of the camera, and once the painted image was liberated from the constraints of formalist, figurative painting as well as historical and mythological themes collectively associated with the art academies, artists began to interrogate the elements of how the world was seen rather than what was seen. Forms progressively became more angular and subjects became increasingly fragmented until many artists’ treatment of form was primarily concerned with abstraction and geometry. Artists such as Mondrian and Malevich became concerned with notions of the divine and the connection their paintings shared with the unseen and metaphysical. As a result an interest in the purity of form was explored by subsequent artists. The flatness of the picture plane became more important than the rendering of three-dimensional space, the media itself and materiality of the work of art was more important than the illusions it could manufacture. With these principles at the vanguard of the modern art movement, consideration for narrative-based themes were largely abandoned.

    The championing of modern art practices by critics and theorists such as Clement Greenberg* signaled the pinnacle to which modern art had climbed in its search for the purity of form. However, the logical progression of this theoretical path left no further ground for modern art to explore. As Berman states in “All That Is Solid Melts Into Air”*,

'Greenberg argued that the only legitimate concern of modernist art was art itself; furthermore, the only rightful focus for an artist in any given form or genre was the nature and limits of that genre: the medium is the message ... Modernism then was the quest for the pure, self-referential art object. And that was all it was: the proper relationship of modern art to modern social life was no relationship at all ... Modernism thus appeared as a great attempt to free modern artists from the impurities, vulgarities of modern life. Many artists and writers ... have been grateful to this modernism for establishing the autonomy and dignities of their vocations. But very few modern artists or writers have stayed with this modernism for long: an art without social relationships is bound to seem arid and lifeless after a little while. The freedom it confers is the freedom of a beautifully formed, perfectly sealed tomb.'

The modernist search for artistic autonomy ended with the proliferation of grids as a self-referential, visual element. This figured more as a bed rock of artistic expression rather than the soaring heights of elitism they wished for it to maintain. Many artistic movements such as minimalism reacted to the status of the grid and critics such as Clement Greenberg who supported it’s predominance in the production of art objects. The minimalist reaction to Greenberg’s formalism only further pushed the modernist cause. Once pure form had left the mediated picture plane, objects became pure forms within themselves and the finality of modern art was sealed.

The push to give art its own identity set apart from all other disciplines left it in a paradoxical bind with little room to progress further. It is at this point that the modern art critic, Rosalind Krauss, enters the discussion of modernism. Her strong, vitriolic approach is interpreted as a reaction to the predominant, static aesthetic of the modern art movement, manifesting in the abstract rendering of the grid. In her seminal paper entitled ‘Grids’ Krauss argues for the closure of modern art and a need to progress past the grid or bounce back from it*.

“Surfacing in pre-war cubist painting and subsequently becoming ever more stringent and manifest, the grid announces among other things, modern art’s will to silence, its hostility to literature, to narrative, to discourse. As such the grid has done its job with striking efficiency. The barrier it has lowered between the art of vision and those of language has been almost totally successful in walling the visual arts into a realm of exclusive visuality and defending them against the intrusion of speech. The arts, of course have paid dearly for this success, because the fortress they constructed on the foundation of the grid has increasingly become a ghetto. Fewer and fewer voices from the general critical establishment have been raised in support, appreciation, or analysis of the contemporary plastic arts.”

To further enforce the need for art to progress from the modernist ‘ghetto’, Krauss not only argues that the appearance of the grid signals the end state of artistic discourse but also silences it. Krauss goes on to dismiss the position the grid holds within the visual arts as a myth; as if to say that the critical considerations of the modernist theorists were out of touch with the intentions that artists such as Malevich and Mondrian were pursuing;

Mondrian and Malevich are not discussing canvas or pigment or graphite or any other form of matter. They are talking about Being or Mind or Spirit. From their point of view, the grid is a staircase to the Universal, and they are not interested in what happens below in the Concrete. Or, to take a more up-to-date example, we could think about Ad Reinhardt who, despite his repeated insistence that ‘Art is art’, ended up by painting a series of black nine-square grids in which the motif that inescapably emerges is a Greek cross. There is no painter in the West who can be unaware of the symbolic power of the cruciform shape and the Pandora’s box of spiritual reference that it opened once one uses it*.

Sustaining Krauss’s argument; and much like the problems identified within modernism generally, it would follow that the direction of the plastic arts are in need of redefining. However, if the articulation and dominance of the grid in modern art signals its theoretical end state, how does one find fertile ground for furthering the cause of the plastic arts? How is reestablishing it in contemporary practice accomplished without sinking into revisionism or - as the postmodernists have done - basing their paradigm on deconstruction itself without providing any suggestion of ‘reconstruction’?

It would seem that leaving the discussion concerning grids within modern art to the domain of modernist critique would allow it to retain its emblematic status in modern art. This would come at the expense of leaving the continuation of this discourse in an unstable state. If we are to take the discourse of art theory seriously, it would seem more beneficial to see where the development of art and thought has headed in more recent times; springboarding from the grid and into more contemporary discussion. The hope would be to advance art to a position of more fruitful grounds of exploration. In so doing the modernist consideration of art is seen as something to build upon rather than dismiss conclusively.

*Footnotes available upon request

Exegesis Post III: Postmodernism; Discuss.

2010-02-12T15:58:00.000+11:00

Ed: So what's with postmodernism? Is there anyone who still considers it a dominant paradigm? I'm interested in how it is still viewed in light of a more contemporary climate. It would seem that it's undergoing more scrutiny in recent times than ever before. I'll try and define it as best I can and leave it open for a bit of discussion.

Postmodernism as defined by Jean-François Lyotard is summated in the phrase, ‘the incredulity towards grand-narratives’*. A notion that is better articulated by what it attacks, or deconstructs than by a centralised set of principles. Postmodernism is not an attitude with central principles or philosophies; rather it is the process itself of interrogating and systematically deconstructing any notion that purports to be an absolute truth or totalising, unifying, universal understanding of reality*.

    Postmodernism upholds that objective reality is unknowable. Rather than centralised, objective notions of absolute truth, postmodernism favors localised, pluralistic perspectivism. As Carol Grbich identifies, ‘individual interpretation is paramount, there is no objective reality, and truth and reality lie in the meanings we construe regarding our own subjective perceptions of our life experiences’.*

    The shift from modernist idealism to postmodern skepticism seems an inevitable transition when several influencing factors are taken into account. At the highest level within modernist institutions was science and the church. Premodern governance was conducted by the church. As science grew into a more defined field and riding on the success of the scientific revolution, rationality and reason became the predominant driving principles of western culture. As the division between church and state grew, coupled with Darwin’s theories of origins to explain the rise of man apart from a transcendent creator, humanistic rationalism soon placed the western man at the center of all systems of determinacy. Consequently, the absolutism of biblical theism stood in dialectical opposition to the absolutism of naturalist rationalism.

    As the modern age progressed, whether it was the combination of Darwinian Naturalism, Neitzcheian nihilism and the widespread interest in existential philosophy at the turn of the century; or whether it was an infiltration of relativistic, pluralistic philosophies stemming from eastern cultures, postmodern attitudes soon became a distinct phenomenon towards the 1980s. Further developments in science such as Einstein’s theory of relativity and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics had a dramatic impact on previously held notions of the observable universe being fixed, constant and measurable*. With the fundamental principle of a knowable truth to explain reality destabilised, western civilisation seemed ripe for postmodern relativism to advance.

    If this view of postmodernism is sustained, the dismantling of centralised, totalising theories that gave rise to imperialist rule, colonialism and the privileging of class and gender can be seen as a benefit to the current state at which society in the west is functioning. The displacement of totalitarian, elitist powers has given rise to the emancipation of colonial states, and feminist critique has seen women’s rights and roles in society greatly expanded.

    Postmodernism however, does not establishing a new order or paradigm to adhere to. In so doing it relinquishes its ability to reestablish a common sensibility for society to adopt. Although it has had considerable influence on the arts and humanities, there are a number of fields it has had little to no effect on, such as the sciences. This begs the question of whether postmodernism is in fact a progression and advancement from modernism or simply a skeptical climate within intellectual circles which will subside once the inconsistencies of the modernist attitude are addressed and rectified.

    Postmodernism is a negative attitude. It seeks to disrupt and destablise modernist constructs in order to give more credibility to pluralistic, relative, subjectivised voices. This view becomes extremely problematic in dealing with issues of truth and becomes irreconcilable within itself as a credible departure form modernism. If postmodernism completely disavows the absolutism of modernist constructs it positions itself within a dialectical discourse where by it either must establish itself as a new ‘grand-narrative’, and in doing so defeats itself, or must resign to destablise everything including itself, in which case it also becomes self defeating. The state of postmodernism becomes quite problematic as Grbich discusses,

‘If truth can only be temporarily [arrived at] through dialogue negotiated in interaction, then any claims to valid knowledge will also be subject to negotiation with those holding conflicting interpretations. The outcome of this can only be many truths. But are all people’s knowledge claims equal? How will dialogue progress? Whose ‘truths’ will be enacted? Those with greater power will surly want to insist that their claims to truth have greatest value and in addition can be imposed through legislation, greater media access, or force if necessary. Will all information be available for critique? Or will some be controlled and distorted by the webs of power?’

    Evidently, this leaves postmodernism in a paradoxical situation. It would seem that postmodernism can only exist as a mode if there is a ‘modernism’ for the ‘post-’ to be attached to. Much like a parasite or a virus that invades its host; it either manufactures itself into oblivion as it destroys its host, or the host resists and is able to obliterate the virus. Either way the virus inevitably dies out.

    To this effect, postmodernism intrinsically implies an end state. It is for this reason a new paradigm must be identified, articulated and established.

*Footnotes available upon request

Exegesis Post II: Modernism; Discuss.

2010-02-01T12:46:00.002+11:00

Ed: I'm well set on boring the pants of anyone reading this. Theory bores... I accept this. But give it a crack anyhow. For those who prefer reading theory to any other valid class of activity... I invite your comments. I must admit, the finer points of my understanding my seem a little pedestrian.

- Alex

Theoretical inquiry has highlighted the problems that emerge from grounding my practice in either the modernist or post-modernist paradigms. Furthermore, situating my practice in a declining and often repudiated post-modernist position, would likely cripple further theoretical and visual investigations. Theoretical inquiry into modernism and postmodernism, has distanced me from both attitudes rather than establishing a foundation and focus to the theoretical underpinnings of my work. This has spurred a desire to identify something that reaches wider and settles issues more concretely than either system of thought can afford exclusively. However, to effectively articulate synthetic modernism, and establish how it stems from both systems, it is necessary to evaluate its modernist and postmodernist precursors.

    Modernism emerged from the European Enlightenment of the eighteenth century. It emphasised rationalism, technological advancement, progress, reason and positivism*. Following the influence of European philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, René Descartes, David Hume, François-Marie Voltaire and Georg Hegel, the implementation of reason and logic became the major devices deployed in order to shape the universal constructs that defined the understanding of reality, truth and political praxis well into the twentieth century*. These ‘grand narratives’ constructed by modernist thinkers lead to shifts from general understandings based on biblical narrative, to specific inquiry into the order of the natural world based on human reason. Reason alone became the vehicle by which man would liberate themselves from superstitious beliefs and subvert perceived tyrannical rule and oppression. Logical and objective inquiry and education would relieve man of religious control and freedom would be the state under which a new world would emerge*.

    Descartes’ aggressive doubting of ideas lead him to the the conclusion that his own existence could only be doubted if a mind existed in order to doubt it, begetting his often quoted ‘I think therefore I am’. This determined, rational inquiry lead Hume to assert that the only reliable foundation for knowledge was empirical observation. Following these developments Kant would establish that reason and logic alone where the crucial elements necessary for the acquisition of reliable knowledge. The influence of such philosophies placed man’s ability to determine his own destiny through self awareness, reason and education at the forefront of the western mind.

    Societal norms transitioned from the collective to the individual and soon the disintegration of agricultural and guild based economies gave way to industrialisation, commodification and imperialist colonialism*.

    The modernist era gave rise to some of the greatest thinkers and theorists of our time. Many of modernism’s philosophers and thinkers still shape and inform many social and political constructs of todays world; for example the philosophy of science and the scientific method, as well as democratic systems of government have modernist affiliations*. However, it was not without its short falls. The idealism of modernist thinkers sought to emancipate the individual by freeing the mind; this, however, lead to a confinement of thinking determined by the ‘all encompassing power of scientific reason’*. As economic powers grew and expanded across continents and as democracy replaced the administrations of the church, western powers began to demarcate distinctions between upper class and lower class, between the ‘civilised’ and tribal. Elitism fostered by modern advantages lead to repression of ‘underdeveloped’ and ‘third world’ cultures. The white, heterosexual with his right to vote became the dominating ideal of the modern age.

    The progress of the modern mind lead to great advancements in literacy, information technology, and greater means and devices of scientific inquiry. However, As media and information technology expanded across culture and with a growing global market and multicultural society, the totalising explanations of the modernist tradition became more and more inadequate at encompassing every system of thought, belief, and political enterprise.

    Culminating with the greatest war this planet has experienced, modernism saw its pinnacle reached around the closure of World War II*. Following the clash of Fascism, Socialist Communism and Liberal Democracy; the three most prominent grand narratives of the twentieth century, a more skeptical, decentralised and subjective mode of thought would soon follow; this being Postmodernism.

*foot notes available upon request

Exegesis Post I: Introduction to Synth Mod art

2010-01-19T11:37:00.001+11:00

Ed: The following post is the introduction to my 2010 exegesis. It's to accompany my body of paintings for my final master's assessment at the end of April. As you'll discover in subsequent posts, the publishing of my exegesis on the internet is only appropriate in integrating my views on synthetic modernism with a wider community. My hope is to continue to generate further discussion on what we are in the midst of identifying as we shrug off the past and move into the future. This may also become an excuse to publish some photos of my work in order to get a wider response. So, with not much more to say, watch this space and I hope you get more than a wasted five minutes out of it!

-Alex

    Synthetic modernism is a working title chosen to aid in the positioning of my art practice within the field of contemporary art theory. This is taken from Peter Hill’s discussion surrounding his long term project titled Super Fictions*. Further support is taken from recent ideas such as Nicolas Bourriaud’s Altermodernism* and Matrix Art*, which support the notion that postmodernism has reached it’s zenith and has begun its decline as a predominant or popular theoretical position.

    Synthetic modernism, as it relates specifically to my art practice, has been chosen due to the personal skepticism held towards modernist and postmodernist views concerning art, and the inability either attitude has to maintain a progressive theoretical foundation on which to base theoretical considerations surrounding my art practice. The synthetic modernist position, however, does not dismiss previously held positions of modernism or postmodernism completely; rather, it seeks to blend or synthesise the positive elements of both positions. Hence, the title Synthetic Modernism.

    There are two major themes that pervade my body of work which position it within the synthetic modernist paradigm. The first theme is the adaptation and blending of modernist and postmodernist motifs and visual elements. These include the utilisation of the grid, and symbolic subject matter which embody competing yet harmonious ideologies. The predominant symbols being the horse, the ribcage, the oak tree and self portrait. The second theme is the incorporation of digital animation and photography into my painting practice.

    Other elements used to further support my ideas are fragmentation of both the picture plane and the subject matter; the use of text, and a diverse yet congruent range of painterly techniques. Combined, these elements build the foundation for theoretical themes such as interconnectivity and open-ended narrative, which in theory, support a synthetic modernist reading.

    What follows is an brief synopsis of the emergence of modernism and postmodernism. Following this is a discussion of their respective strengths and weaknesses. This then leads into a short recount of how these dominant attitudes have impacted ideas within art history and theory. This forms a backdrop for discussion concerning the articulation of synthetic modernism and how its central tenets are embodied within my art practice.

*All foot notes available upon request.

Towards a (Synthetic) Modernism

2009-08-26T23:04:00.000+10:00

Is there anyone else out there who is fed up with postmodernist thought? Is there anyone else out there who is anticipating the death rattle of postmodern, poststructural, self-negating, baseless pluralism? Perhaps it’s time that voices were raised in advocacy of a new school of thought, a paradigm shift; a progression in our collective consciousness - a move towards a construct we can stand on, yet one that doesn’t build it self up around us with iron bars. I’m talking about a world view that gives us the stability to cope in an ever changing, ever progressing world while maintaining a freedom that enables such progressions to take place.

I am not intending a wholesale disavowal of postmodernism. In light of its modernist host I believe the onslaught of postmodernist critique has lead to a number of positive advancements. Yet, just as a virus attacks its host unto its own undoing, so too I believe we are fast reaching a time where postmodernist thought will be left with nothing to dismantle. Not that I advocate a rehash of modernist schools of thought either; nor do I propose an all-together new construct. Rather, as we observe the aftermath of the postmodern tilt, what is it that has endured? What is left for us to improve and build upon from modernism’s battered edifices? What are we more resistant to after surviving the viral decay of postmodernism? Is it possible that from the clash of these two axiomatic modes of thought we can establish something more progressive? It’s in light of these questions and a growing fatigue with the undefined, self-defeating notions of postmodernism that I advocate - for want of a better term - ‘Synthetic Modernism’.

‘Synthetic’ in this case refers to a dialectical approach of combining modernist constructs with more open-ended dialogues that seem to emerge in postmodern discourse; and with good reason, I believe, we can do so and move towards more fruitful systems of thought, without having to confront overreaching skepticism due to failed dogmatic constructs and myths that were all too rampant in the modernist era.

It would seem that progress is inevitable. For better or for worse; weather a philosopher or politician comes to the fore and captures the attention of the masses, or whether it’s shear boredom that drives culture into a more ‘fashionable’ social awareness, change is bound to take place. If we take a broad cross section of modernism, starting at the mid 1800’s and carrying it through to the second world war, the over arching narrative which defines the era is the construction of various modes of categorical, ontological assertions of absolute truth. At the highest level there’s the well established orthodoxy of Christianism battling against the rise of Darwinian naturalism, which later hardened the categories for atheistic world views coupled with the philosophical skepticism of Nietzche. With these mutually exclusive world views as backdrop to an entrenched attitude of progress and absolutism, the stage was set for the clash of the three greatest political entities known in the modern age: Socialism, Fascism and Democracy.

Culminating with the greatest war this planet has experienced, modernism saw its pinnacle reached around the closure of World War II. Following the clash of Fascism, Socialist Communism and Liberal Democracy - the three most prominent grand narratives of the twentieth century - a more skeptical, decentralised, subjective mode of thought grew to prominence. Postmodernism as defined by Jean-François Lyotard, is summed up in the phrase, ‘the incredulity towards grand-narratives’. A notion that is better articulated by what it attacks, or deconstructs than by what it identifies or articulates. Postmodernism is not an attitude with central principles or philosophies; rather it is the process itself of interrogating and systematically deconstructing any notion that purports to be an absolute truth or totalising, unified, universal understanding of reality.

The shift from modernist idealism to postmodern skepticism seems an apparent transition when several influencing factors are taken into account. At the highest level of ideology within modernist institutions was science and the church. Premodern governance was conducted by the church. As science grew into a more defined field and riding on the success of the scientific revolution, rationality and reason became the predominant driving principles of western culture. As the division between church and state grew, coupled with Darwin’s theories of origins to explain the rise of man apart from a transcendent creator, rationalism soon placed the western man at the center of all systems of determinacy.

As the modern age progressed, whether it was the combination of Darwinian Naturalism, Neitzcheian Nihilism and the widespread interest in existential philosophy at the turn of the century; or whether it was an infiltration of relativistic, pluralist philosophies stemming from eastern cultures, postmodern attitudes soon became a distinct phenomenon towards the 1980’s.

If this view of postmodernism if sustained, the dismantling of centralised, totalising theories that gave rise to imperialist rule, colonialism and the privileging of class and gender can be seen as a benefit to the current state society finds itself in. The displacement of totalitarian, elitist powers has given rise to the emancipation of colonial states and to feminist critiques to the extent of seeing women’s rights and roles in society greatly improved.

Postmodernism, however, does not establish a new order or paradigm to adhere to. In so doing it relinquishes any ability to reestablish a common sensibility for society to adopt. Although it has had considerable influence on the humanities there are a number of fields it has had little to no effect on.

Postmodernism, as discussed earlier, is a negative attitude. It seeks to disrupt and destablise modernist constructs in order to give more credibility to pluralistic, relative, subjectivised voices. This view becomes extremely problematic when it comes to dealing with issues of truth and becomes irreconcilable within itself as a credible departure from modernism. If postmodernism completely disavows modernist constructs, it positions itself within a dialectic where by it either must purport to establish itself as a new ‘grand-narrative’ - and in so doing defeats itself - or must resign to destablise everything including itself, in which case it also becomes self defeating. Rather, it would seem that postmodernism can only exist as a mode if there is a ‘modernism’ for the ‘post-’ to be attached to.

Much like a parasite or a virus that invades its host, it either manufactures itself into oblivion or the host resists and is all the stronger for having survived the viral attack.

Postmodernism, intrinsically implies an end. It is for this reason a new paradigm must be identified, articulated and established. Rather than deconstructing every notion unto our undoing as a culture we must see the value in establishing constructs that serve society and culture, yet remain open-ended.

These new constructs must not suffer the same fate as the utopian notions of the modernist age; becoming cages for ourselves. Rather they should afford us a stable foundation on which to express ourselves as a culture and lead the way forward for the generations to come.