It would be easy to say that modernism and postmodernism are opposites within the grand scheme of theoretical lenses. They do embody different elements, and they do produce results that are very far in relation from one another. However, opposites isn’t quite the word that best summarizes their relationship, as both do, in fact, strive to defer and branch off from the accepted and standard visions of art. Where modernism exists to stimulate its audience by challenging traditional conventions of artistic works for a discussion of meta and subtext, postmodernism exists in a farcical space in order to force self-awareness onto an analyzing viewer and challenge the human need to find deeper meaning in everything.
John Cage, a postmodernist composer …show more content…
One of his most famous pieces, 4’33, is incredibly relevant to the conversation. No pun intended, of course, seeing as the piece itself is three acts of silence while sitting at a piano. Here’s the element where postmodernism comes into effect, though—since the performance is completely silent, can it be considered music? Cage himself said yes. It completely ignores what most musical works present in terms of structure, sure—but one still looks for things to listen to within its performance. It’s still something that requires conscious thought when presented, even if the material presented isn’t something of relative substantial quality. This is where human nature’s influence picks up—there is immediate desire to seek meaning and purpose within the seven-minute length of almost complete silence. The instinct to analyze and deconstruct the sound of the piano lid’s closing, to look into the music’s score to find out a time signature or a tempo mark, is overpowering—and yet, the meaning behind it is simply what’s at the surface—it is a piano piece created to defy all previous standards of piano music. Contrast this with a piece of modernist music—for example, one from a blockbuster movie, Batman v …show more content…
The host of the show asks him—or, rather, tells him and waits for a reaction—that the some of the audience will most likely laugh at his performance. Cage responds with “I consider laughter preferable to tears.” Now, that can be looked at as an amicable response to a question implying a certain amount of offense. However, it can also be looked at as the ideal reaction towards postmodern work; tears would imply a kind of emotional connection being made, which is something postmodern art doesn’t seek to do. (In fact, one could argue that it avoids doing that in order to maintain its postmodern structure.) Cage knows that his musical composition is something so wildly different from the norm that it’ll be laughed at due to comparison. It’s here that the farcical element of postmodernism reveals itself. In order to differentiate itself from both modernist and classical works of art, postmodern art aims to be ridiculous and borderline unintelligible in its presentation. While laughter isn’t the single reaction postmodernists look for in their work, it’s one that contributes to the levity and nature of the piece. The viewer, upon looking and attempting to wrap one’s head around it, finds it doesn’t go deeper than the surface and reacts accordingly. In a modernist piece, upon finding a deeper level of understanding when
John Cage, a postmodernist composer …show more content…
One of his most famous pieces, 4’33, is incredibly relevant to the conversation. No pun intended, of course, seeing as the piece itself is three acts of silence while sitting at a piano. Here’s the element where postmodernism comes into effect, though—since the performance is completely silent, can it be considered music? Cage himself said yes. It completely ignores what most musical works present in terms of structure, sure—but one still looks for things to listen to within its performance. It’s still something that requires conscious thought when presented, even if the material presented isn’t something of relative substantial quality. This is where human nature’s influence picks up—there is immediate desire to seek meaning and purpose within the seven-minute length of almost complete silence. The instinct to analyze and deconstruct the sound of the piano lid’s closing, to look into the music’s score to find out a time signature or a tempo mark, is overpowering—and yet, the meaning behind it is simply what’s at the surface—it is a piano piece created to defy all previous standards of piano music. Contrast this with a piece of modernist music—for example, one from a blockbuster movie, Batman v …show more content…
The host of the show asks him—or, rather, tells him and waits for a reaction—that the some of the audience will most likely laugh at his performance. Cage responds with “I consider laughter preferable to tears.” Now, that can be looked at as an amicable response to a question implying a certain amount of offense. However, it can also be looked at as the ideal reaction towards postmodern work; tears would imply a kind of emotional connection being made, which is something postmodern art doesn’t seek to do. (In fact, one could argue that it avoids doing that in order to maintain its postmodern structure.) Cage knows that his musical composition is something so wildly different from the norm that it’ll be laughed at due to comparison. It’s here that the farcical element of postmodernism reveals itself. In order to differentiate itself from both modernist and classical works of art, postmodern art aims to be ridiculous and borderline unintelligible in its presentation. While laughter isn’t the single reaction postmodernists look for in their work, it’s one that contributes to the levity and nature of the piece. The viewer, upon looking and attempting to wrap one’s head around it, finds it doesn’t go deeper than the surface and reacts accordingly. In a modernist piece, upon finding a deeper level of understanding when