M o d e r n i s m  /  P o s t m o d e r n i s m 

Postmodernism, like modernism, follows most of these same basic principles, rejecting boundaries between totally different forms of art and throwing away rigid genre distinctions set way back in the day and instead emphasizing a new way of thinking and working, often using irony and playfulness to create artistic pieces.

Postmodernism Art favors being more free that past Art, instead of figures and objects sitting for portraits or oil based landscapes, Postmodernism created a new way of thinking and making art, artists were allowed to be a lot freer and the basic rules of Art were thrown into the rubbish bin, Jackson Pollock is an example of an Artist who instead of working in a standard basic way, use the rules of Postmodernism to create their work in a positive way.

While postmodernism seems very much like modernism in these ways, it differs from modernism in its attitude toward a lot of these trends. Many modernist works try to achieve something by trying to change the world in some way, meaning is important in Modernism, most artists using the Modernism approach find they are trying to create meaning out of the world in a productive manor. Postmodernism, in contrast, doesn't think about the world in anyway, but rather celebrates that. The world is meaningless? Let's not pretend that art can make meaning then, let's just play with nonsense and enjoy it. 

L  a  d  y    G  a  g  a  

A   M o d e r n   D a y   W a r h o l ? 

I'm a huge fan of Lady Gaga's and to most people I speak to they think she's just an attention seeking Popstar, however I feel if you look deeper you begin to see a woman who isn't interested in becoming a Popstar she's interested in becoming a world Icon. 

" W a r h o l   w o u l d   h a v e   L o v e d   Y o u " 

On her last visit to London she upped the pace and began Photographing the Paparazzi while they photographed her using the idea of irony and playing with the idea of 'Fame' again like Warhol did all his life, she also mentioned in the video below, using the power of imagery and photography, she began carrying around a single purple tea cup and saucer everywhere she went, until the media finally picked up on this and started producing articles on the subject. She also makes all of her music video's very graphic and artistic including photography, art and the essense of Warhol, the withdrawn/banned video of 'Love Game',  withdrawn from certain countries because of it being 'far too explicit', I have included a version of the song below, and could not use the official video due to Youtube restrictions.

 The Guardian - Go to 3:49  in the Video above to view the quote 

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Lady Gaga - Love Game

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Lady Gaga - Paparazzi

F e m i n i s m 

  •  n o u n   t h e   a d v o c a c y   o f   w o m e n ’ s   r i g h t s   o n   t h e   g r o u n d s   o f   s e x u a l   e q u a l i t y .

  —   D E R I V A T I V E S   f e m i n i s t   n o u n   &   a d j e c t i v e  

When I started this blog just a few minutes ago, I wasn't sure how to write about Feminism because I never really got the grasp of the subject/idea in the seminar, it's a very flimsy idea to me that I know very little about, and every time I think about it I remember a quote from the Guardian which I've included below. 

 “ They don’t see the wood for the trees and everything has to be viewed from this feminist point of view. I know women have suffered and I think it’s great that people stand up for women’s rights but the problem with feminists is that they somehow consider women to be superior beings. And in the end, they just want to be men anyway. They want to do men’s work. ” 

-Vivienne Westwood for the Guardian 2008

C i n d y   S h e r m a n 

Cindy Sherman for me is the only Feminist photographer who's work I like, I can see what she's getting at and I can see what she's trying to convey, a lot of her photographs feature her in the kitchen cooking and getting ready for 'her' man all things that woman only used to be known for and I can see how her work represents Feminism and for me I think that's fantastic, I can see how she changed views in photography and how simple things like using herself as the model and setting up these scenarios make her so famous in the Photography world, I really like her feminist work.  

 S a m   T a y l o r   W o o d 

" C r y i n g   M e n "

Hayden Christiansen

 

Benicio Del Torro

Daniel Craig

Dustin Hoffman

Ed Harris 

Forest Whitaker

Gabriel Bryne

Kris Krisofferson

Laurence Fishburne

Robbin Williams

Sean Penn

Ben Stiller

Sam Taylor Wood recruited all of the Hollywood hunks including world famous actors Jude Law, Robert Downey, Jr. and Laurence Fishburne for her new exhibition 'Crying Men'.

Taylor-Wood explained in an interview near the exhibition opening, "Some of the men cried before I even finished loading the camera, but others found it really difficult. People can decide for themselves which they think are the authentic tears and which they think are fake. It's about the idea of taking these big, masculine men and showing a different side". 

I personally love this work by Sam Taylor Wood, I love her idea of turning things on it's head. In the male dominated world of which we live in (still may I add) heterosexual men are expected to be so strong and never show signs of weakness especially in the presence of other woman. However it can't be denied that even the strongest of men have their weakness' and soft spots and sometimes yes they do actually cry, so lets they're human just like the rest of mankind. I am a huge fan of photographs that have the simplicity yet power to capture beauty and all other powerful striking emotions, and really that is what Taylor Wood produced in these images, and I think they're fantastic. My favourite image is of Hayden Christiansen, to see a young heterosexual man crying I feel is incredibly beautiful, and you can tell they're real tears, and that for me makes the photograph even more incredible.