Monday, 7 September 2015

From Neon to New Order

Postmodernism is define by it's fragmentation or out right refusal of narrative. The Las vegas Strip does not follow a single narrative, it is a time machine, a clash of cultures from french landmarks, Egyptian pyramids, Italian architecture. Some would deem all of this to be kitsch and superficial and there is no doubt it's post modern.

The idea of style holds the idea of post modernism together, some go as far as to say that it beyond style. It is a pluralist theory too suggesting that there is not one universal style that defines itself, it means multiple things to multiple people. An idea deeply critical of the past was turned on it's head in 1978, when Kraftwerk, became critical of the future. With their "robot" selves, they predicted that we would all become like robots, stylized and cultivate. It was presented in such a way, that their were distopian undertones to it, suggesting you will be like this one day.
Cindy Sherman, the photographer, rejected the fixed narrative of gender and heterosexuality in photography by being the central focus of all her photographs, dressing up as men, women, children. Unfixing individuality and cultural permissiveness. The effects of post modernism are still being felt in today's culture. So it can be accepted, like it or not, we are all post modern.




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