Chapter Twenty-Two The Contemporary Contour

1. Chapter Twenty-TwoThe Contemporary Contour Culture and Values, 6th Ed. Cunningham and Reich

2. Toward a Global Culture • Artistic satire of modern warfare • Heller, Pynchon, Kubrick • Global economy, New World Order • Economic, social inequities • Search for individual, social meaning • Social, political oppression • Artist as voice of protest, hope

3. Existentialism • Kierkegaard (1813-1855) • Autonomous individual, self-examination • Who am I? What am I doing here? Where am I going? • Sartre (1905-1980) • Implications of atheism • Individual place, freedom, ethics

4. Existentialism • Thought + Action • Multi-media expression • Emphasis on anxiety, alienation • Existentialist theater, fiction • Beat poets as existentialists • Camus’ absurdity of the world

5. Painting Since 1945 • International dilution of American art • Refugee teachers, artists • Peggy Guggenheim • Americanization of modern art • Artists of tradition • Hopper’s Nighthawks (1942) • O’Keeffe’s Poppy (1927)

8. Painting Since 1945:Abstract Expressionism • Devoid of recognizable content • Subjective aesthetic experience • Line, color, shape • Action Painting, New York School • Jackson Pollock (1912-1956) • Radical break from tradition • “overall” painting

10. Painting Since 1945:Abstract Expressionism • Color field paintings • Color detached from imagery • Artistic goals • Break with other conventions of art • Feeling, not seeing

12. Painting Since 1945:The Return to Representation • Consideration of the object • Jasper Johns (b. 1930) • Robert Rauschenberg (b. 1925) • John Cage’s “Happenings” • Combine paintings • Andy Warhol • Pop Art, popular culture, consumerism

15. Painting Since 1945:The Return to Representation • “Hard edges” • Geometrically precise • Minimalists • Ascetic use of line, color • Photorealists • Classical draftsmanship

17. Painting Since 1945:The Return to Representation • Distinctively personal art • Racial, religious heritage • Bearden, Lacy • Smith’s Indian, Indio, Indigenous (1992) • Technical concerns • Rothenberg’s texture, Cabin Fever (1976)

20. Contemporary Sculpture • Continuity + Experimentation • New materials, technical skills • David Smith (1906 – 1965) • Alexander Calder (1898 – 1976) • Assemblage • Disparate materialsOrganic wholes • Nevelson, Cornell, Segal, Kienholz

24. Contemporary Sculpture • Claes Oldenburg (b.1929) • Humorous, mocking, Surreal • Henry Moore (1898-1986) • Primordial realities of art • Life, death, sexuality

25. Contemporary Sculpture • The modern patron, accessible art • Vietnam Veterans Memorial • Social statements made through media • Christo, Abakanowicz • Bartlett, Hanson, Frank • Paik, Whiteread

27. Architecture • Louis Sullivan (1856-1924) • “Form follows function” • Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959) • Function is accomplished through form • Organic architecture • Flow of space vs. obstruction of space • Guggenheim Museum (1957-1959)

29. Architecture • Buildings as sculpture • New materials, flexibility and creativity • Saarinen, TWA Flight Center, New York • Utzon’s Opera House, Sydney, Australia • Counterpoint to nature • Le Corbusier’s large housing units

31. Architecture • Bauhaus design • “Less is more” • Crisp design, imaginative use of material • Seagram Building, National Gallery of Art • The Pompidou Center • Industrial design • Garishness, nervous energy

33. Architecture • Postmodernism • Classical motifs, Bauhaus severity • 1201 Third Avenue, Seattle • Seattle Art Museum • American Center in Paris • The New Tate • Getty Center • Millennium Park

34. Trends in Contemporary Literature • Human search for meaning • Experiences of the war • The American Experience • Literature of social, political protest • Postmodernist writing • Mastery of and extension beyond tradition

35. New Music Since 1945Avant-Garde Developments • Greater complexity, new sound • Structuralists • Precise organization, control • Devoid of subjective emotional expression • Electronic music, synthesizers • Aleatoric Music, “sound events” • John Cage (1912-1992)

36. New Music Since 1945The New Minimalists • Reich’s The Desert Music (1983) • Repetitions of simple chords, rhythms • State of heightened concentration • Philip Glass (b. 1937) • Influenced by non-Western music • Repeating modules • Operas as “happenings”

37. New Music Since 1945:Traditional Approaches to Modern Music • Innovative approach to symphony • Dimitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) • Political commentary, nature of death • Traditional symphony orchestra • Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) • Violence of contemporary life • Opera genre • Inspired by earlier masterpieces

38. New Music Since 1945Popular Music • Rooted in Western musical traditions • Tangled interrelationship of genres • Medium reflects social change, turmoil • Concerts as multi-media “happenings” • Social document, record of past • Communication revolution

39. Chapter Twenty-Two: Discussion Questions • With contemporary art in its various forms, to what extent is the medium the message? What does the composition of the art itself contribute to the artist’s theme, message, or primary emotion? Explain, citing specific examples. • The evolution of Western artistic traditions reveals subtle changes in the ways in which the role of the artist is perceived. What is the role of twenty-first-century artists? How is this role different than/similar to artists from other historical epochs? Explain. • As an individual living in the twenty-first century, what artistic form or genre most appeals to you? Why? Do you prefer to view art as a reflection of your personal values (subjectively), or is your attraction to art one of an objective nature? Explain, citing specific examples when appropriate.