Chapter 34 From Post Modernism and Beyond - Art o Essays

Chapter 34: From Post Modernism and Beyond - Art of the Later 20th Century World War II, with the global devastation it unleashed, psychological, political, physical, and economic, set the stage for the second half of the 20th century. The dropping of the bomb on Japan signaled a turning point. As a result the rest of the 20th century has been one of upheaval, change, and conflict. The constant presence of conflict throughout the world in the later 20th century resulted in wide spread disruption and dislocation. The Hindu Muslim conflict that resulted when the British left India in 1947, the Israeli Arab conflict, the Communist rise to power in China after a momentous war, the conflict in Korea, the brutal spread of Communism through much violence, Vietnam, the Cold War between the US and Russia, the conflicts in Africa and Central and South America, and the rise of radical Islam, all characterize these troubles. These great events had tremendous effect on the world. The US was less affected when compared to Europe, but was still not immune. In the post war years, Americans began to question the status quo. There was the rise of the counterculture in the late 50's, the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's, through today. The resistance to established authority, power structures, and the traditional family, was characterized by rebellion and the rejection of racism and sexism. The Dynamics of Power The central issue that fueled these changes was power. Individual groups, such as feminists, various ethnic groups, gay and lesbians, and others have sought recognition, respect and legal protection through political and legal action. These groups today have a powerful influence in the educational institutions, political institutions, and in media. As a result of this concern for the dynamics of power, identity (both individual and group), has emerged as a potent arena for discussion and action. This quest and struggle has fueled the content of much of the art of the late 20th and early 21st century. The Art World's Focus Shifts West The period's emphasis on change carried over into the art world. The relative economic stability of the United States was a major factor in the shifting center of Western art from Paris to New York. This helps to explain the predominance of American artists in the world art markets. Only in the closing decades of the twentieth century, with the rising interest in multiculturalism and global economies, have countries outside the United States begun to exhibit art more broadly. Modernism, Formalism, and Clement Greenberg Modernism, so integral to the art of the later 19th century, shifted course in conjunction with the changing historical conditions and demands, and in the post war years it became increasingly identified with strict formalism. Formalism is an emphasis on an artwork's visual elements rather than its subject - due largely to the prominence of the American Clement Greenberg (1909-1994). As an art critic who wielded considerable influence from the 1940's through the 1970's, Greenberg was instrumental in redefining the parameters of modernism. For Greenberg, late 20th century modernist artists were those who refined the critical stance of the late 19th and early 20th century modernists. This critical stance involved rejecting illusionism and exploring the properties of each artistic medium. So dominant was Greenberg that scholars often refer to the general modernist tenets during this period as Greenbergian Formalism. Though he modified his stance over the years, Greenberg retained certain basic concepts. In particular Greenberg promoted the idea of purity in art. He explained, "Purity in art consists of acceptance, willing acceptance, of the limitations of the medium of a specific art." I other words, he believed artists should strive for a more explicit focus on the properties exclusive to each medium - for example two dimensionality or flatness in painting, and three dimensionality in sculpture. To achieve this, artists had to eliminate illusion and embrace abstraction. Greenberg elaborated: "It follows that a modernist work of art must try, in principle, to avoid communication with any order of experience not inherent in the most literally and essentially construed nature of its medium. Among other things, this means renouncing illusionism and explicit subject matter. These arts are to achieve concreteness, "purity," by dealing solely with their respective selves - that is, by becoming "abstract" or nonfigurative." Greenberg avidly promoted the avant-garde, which he viewed as synonymous with modernism in the postwar years. Generally speaking, the spirit of rebellion and disdain for convention central to the historical avant-garde flourished in the social political upheaval and counterculture of the 1960's and 1970's. However the acute social political dimension inherent in the avant-garde's early development had

Quit as Predicate Adjective

Quit as Predicate Adjective Quit as Predicate Adjective Quit as Predicate Adjective By Maeve Maddox Does anyone else cringe at the use of quit in the commercial that says: 44% of †¦ users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment. The context screams for quit as a verb, not as a predicate adjective: 44% of users †¦ had quit after nine weeks. The OEDs entry for quit in predicative sense offers these illustrations: When the book was restored the borrower [was] declared quit. (1866) This charter confers the right of having one man quit from tallage in every royal borough. 1928 Ralph is not quit of his wartime melancholy. (1945) He is tired of Sophina. He wishes to be quit of her, but she cannot afford to leave him. (1997) The example from 1866 sounds a bit like legal jargon. The one from 1928 uses from where we might say of. Those from 1945 and 1997, which include the particle of, sound perfectly idiomatic. When starting to write this post, Id expected to argue that nobody uses quit with a being verb without the of, but Ive found many examples of the infinitive phrase to be quit, mostly in informal writing in comments and forums, and mostly in connection with beating the cigarette habit: I am grateful to be quit. It is 5 months and 3 weeks. But one thing I have not lost sight of:   How truly truly grateful I am to be desperate to be quit. Smoking was a [habit] that had to be quit. David Gelkin has it right – the idea quitting is always bad – is an idea that ought to be quit. But after hearing Ms. Rice’s description of Christianity, I’m thinking it deserves to be quit. Idiom is tricky. The statements with to be quit dont offend my ear the way that drug commercial does. Is it just me? Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Arrive To vs. Arrive AtUsed To vs. Use ToEpidemic vs. Pandemic vs. Endemic