Breaking Boundaries- New Mediums & Techniques in the Post Modern Era

 The Post Modern Era was all about contradicting rules, norms, and the utopian style of modernism. In many aspects of art, people were breaking the rules and boundaries. This was a time of innovation and excitement regarding new techniques and an increased sense of creativity. I will focus mostly on the new medias of art/ areas where art is installed in this exhibit. 

New Mediums/ Technology

Dark Matter by Paul Friedlander
Great Britain 1998

    Paul Friedlander has created many art exhibits around the globe that use light as the medium. This technique was able to be made possible with the advances of technology from the 1990s and forward. He uses knowledge of physics and light to create masterful sculptures that captivate the viewers. I think all of his work is beautiful, and hard to understand how it works which is what makes it so intriguing to me. They all have very natural and flowing forms, paired with an interesting texture and vibrancy because of how the light moves through the air. Dark Matter is over 20 foot tall and won an award in a New York city exhibit. 


Blue by Carol Milne 
New York, NY 2014

    Carol Milne is an amazing artist using glass as her medium. Glass work as art instead of solely everyday use items because much more popular in the post modern era. I the optical illusions of glass as yarn so fascinating. This is such a cool concept and she executes the sculptures in such a beautiful way, really understanding the form of how real yarn would sit. The colors she uses also contributes to the realistic look of these pieces.

Balloon Dog (yellow) by Jeff Koons
New York, NY 1994-2000

    The unconventional nature of this piece is very apparent to me. I like the seemingly random subject matter of this piece. It encapsulates the "why not" attitude of some post modern artists. This huge balloon animal sculpture by Jeff Koons breaks most of the molds of "traditional" sculpture work and subject matter. The realism of this piece is very impressive, especially regarding the scale of it. I would have no where to put this piece if I owned it, but I do think it is quite comical to think of it in someone's yard.

New Areas/ Installation Areas

Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson
Salt Lake, UT 1970

    Spiral Jetty is an environmental installation from the 70's and I find it quite beautiful. I think the idea of turning the manmade structures we put in nature into art very genius. If we need a jetty, why not make it interesting right? I think keeping it as an extension of the natural form and texture of the land is very beautiful, along with the natural separation of the colors of water very interesting. Extending sculptures/art into the physical and natural world became more popular during this time period. 


Making Mr. Snowman by Julian Beever
Brussels, Belgium 2008

    Street art (when done well) is one of my favorite installation sites. I think that the addition of some art can really add some life and joy into otherwise lackluster city streets. This piece is executed so well that I really cannot tell if the child holding the carrot is part of the painted illusion or not. This piece captures the texture of snow in the air beautifully and the color pallet makes this piece evoke a feeling fo nostalgia from me.


Yellow Line Flower Painter by Banksy
London, England 2007

    Banksy is one of the most well known names in graffiti art. I have similar feelings to graffiti murals that I do to street art, I think when done in a masterful and respectful manner, it can really spruce up a boring city scape. This piece is so creative and imaginative. Turning the mundane street lines into a flower that is super cute is so smart. Adding the painting of the painter is also hilarious, almost as as taunt because no one had seen the painter, except when he painted himself.

    These works of art make me wonder what it would have looked like if these rules and norms were broken earlier in time. Imagine what the streets of the renaissance may have looked like if graffiti and street art were to be a trend. Interesting right?

Works Cited

“Jeff Koons on the Roof.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 13 Oct. 2011, https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2008/jeff-koons.

Laboureau, Sebastien. “Yellow Line Flower Painter, 2007.” Banksy Explained, 28 June 2021, https://banksyexplained.com/yellow-line-flower-painter-2007/

Milne, Carol. “Blue.” Carol Milne, Seattle Glass Artist - Knitted Glass, 1 Jan. 1970, http://legacy.carolmilne.com/artwork/cid_110/ftid_922/blue.html

“New York Hall of Science Lightforms ’98.” Scientifc Artist, http://www.paulfriedlander.com/text/littlegirl.html Accessed 20 Nov. 2023.

“Pavement Art - 3D Illusions.” Julian Beever - Official Website, 10 Jan. 2023, https://www.julianbeever.net/pavement-art-3d-illusions/.

Shapiro, Gary, and Robert Smithson. “Spiral Jetty.” Spiral Jetty | Holt/Smithson Foundation, https://holtsmithsonfoundation.org/spiral-jetty Accessed 20 Nov. 2023.









Comments

  1. Andrea PetkoffNovember 27, 2023 at 4:47 PM

    Church-commissioned graffiti might have spread the gospel farther than the decadence that crowns the walls of Vatican City. "Yellow Line Flower Painter" by Banksy is simply adorable, it's how I imagine a child would decorate a city if given the DOT's outrageous funding.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tory R.November 27, 2023 at 5:42 PM

    Hello Katarina, you definitely captured the concept of rebellious, outside-the-box energy that sprung forth in art during the Postmodern Era. All of these pieces are lovely and representative of different themes and styles. I especially love the Spiral Jetty. I immediately thought to call it the Eddy Jetty before looking at the name. Your post is well organized and engaging. If you could go see one of these famous works, which would you choose?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Preferences and Perspectives- The Romantic Era

Image
      The Romantic Era was the birth time to a lot of the styles of art that are iconic to this day. A lot of these styles contributed heavily to the shaping of our art today. I personally am going to focus mostly on the Post Impressionistic style, and the Realist style, because these are the most interesting to me, even though realist art typically is not my cup of tea. Post Impressionistic Style     Post Impressionistic style art is one of my favorite because they are so unique in general, and specifically for their time period. It is clear that Post-impressionism helped revolutionize art and broke out of the more traditional box. Post Impressionism focused more on memory and the artists perception than a hyper realistic depiction of the direct world outside. I think this contributes greatly to the appeal of these works to me, it is interesting to try to decipher what within the artists head inspired these pieces. While I don't love every single piece of Post ...
Read more

Introducing myself

Image
      My name is Katarina, I am currently living in Kodiak Alaska and am studying biology. I have been traveling around in the past few years spending time in places like the outer banks of North Carolina, and in the mountains of Montana, but this little Alaskan island will always be home for me. I adore being surrounded and inspired by nature every single day and am pursuing a career as a biologist for Fish and Game.      I lately have found an artist on instagram named Sam Larson and love all of his prints, such as this Chemex trout.     I have always been immersed in various forms of art for as long as I can remember, specifically through dance and drawing. I have taken art classes throughout all of my education, falling mostly in love with it in high school. After a drawing course I took my first semester of college, I hadn't done any art in a couple years until this last spring. I was feeling drained and uninspired in life and needed some sor...
Read more

Early Modern Art- the Influence of WW1

Image
      During the Early Modern Art era, World War 1 was a huge influence on most styles of art. This was a huge shift in culture, which is makes complete sense since this war effected so many lives, globally. A lot of the art that was influenced by the war are not necessarily pieces that I would want to hang in my house; but there are quite a few that are really beautiful, not in a conventional way, but instead in the way they capture so much emotion. I have chosen to focus on 3 different pieces within a few years of each other, but they are vastly different styles. This shows how different the effects of war on art are on different regions and people. A Battery Shelled Percy Wyndham Lewis Great Britain, UK, 1919     This piece shows the shift from hyperrealistic paintings to the more abstract world of modern art. The form is quite cubist with a lack of soft flowing lines. The harsh contrasts and shapes make it feel like a scene frozen in time to me. I think the ...
Read more