absence and presence

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Absence and Presence

By Katie I Parker

“…the Modernist connoisseur would claim, that works of art do indeed ‘speak for themselves’…”

To evaluate the above quotation, I am going to discuss itthrough the form of modernist versus postmodernisttheory. I will attempt to highlight the factors that make upModernism, and post-Modernism, usingthe acclaimed theorists and artists, Clement Greenbergand Victor Burgin. I also intend to discuss the quotesbelow, and refer to aspects of art throughout the century.It is obvious, that both Greenberg and Burgin are decidedand have concrete views of what is and should be.Through my evaluation of both their ideals, I willendeavour to identify my position and thoughts in

relationship to these ideas.

“…the proper and unique area of competence of each artcoincided with all that was unique to the nature of itsmedium. The task of self criticism became to eliminatefrom the effects of each art and every effect that mightconceivably be borrowed from or by the medium of anyother art. Thereby each art would be rendered ‘pure’, andin its ‘purity’ find the guarantee of its standards of quality

as well as of its independence. ‘Purity’ meant self-



definition, and the enterprise of self criticism the artsbecame one of self-definition, with a vengeance.”

‘Greenberg’s aesthetics are the terminal point of this

historical trajectory. There is another history of art,however, a history of representations…for me, and someother erstwhile conceptualists, conceptual art opened ontothat other history, a history which opens onto history. Artpractice was no longer to be defined as an artisanalactivity, a process of crafting fine objects in a givenmedium, it was rather to be seen as a set of operationsperformed in a field of signifying practices, perhapscentred on medium but certainly not bounded by it.’

The two quotations given above may represent thedivisions between modernist criticism and art based onsocial, political and historical context. Furthermore, theabove quotations may also be interpreted as representingthe separations. It would be far too simple to suggest thata rejection of social or historical issues would be a fairview of a Modernist account of modern art. It is arguablehowever that a definition of post-modern should take into

account both the close connection with Modernist criticismand mid twentieth century abstract art, which basicallydominated art from the late 1940’s to the early 1960’s,and the social, historical, and political context withinwhich art characterised as post-modern has developed.

It would be a fair assumption to ascertain that adiscussion, attempting to clarify the critical positionsrepresented by Clement Greenberg and Victor Burgin,

would help in the trial to distinguish post-modern frommodernism in the practice of art, and include aesthetics asthe main subject of this discussion. When discussingaesthetics, Emmanuel Kant is regarded highly as aformidable theorist, he was most concerned with validityof aesthetic claims. Kant questioned many thingsregarding things which are ‘beautiful’, things that provokea response, a reaction for example; graceful, deformed,

ugly, pretty, delicate, or sad, these emotional responsescan be used as opposed to a mere subjective liking or



disliking. Kant also believed that judgements on thebeauty of objects were solely judgements of taste. ‘Weusually classify claims about beauty as ‘aesthetic’. In partwe do this because of the influence of Kant’s work… he

thinks we need to justify thinking of judgements of tasteas aesthetic.’ Kant is also known for separating outaesthetic experience from all other kinds of experience.He did this in comparative terms, as it were: the hallmarkof aesthetic experience is that it remains within itself. Oneof Kant’s defining features of his study of aesthetics wasthat ‘received enjoyment’, without prejudice, does not getits results from the outside world.

Greenberg sets art in the context of the ideas establishedfrom the philosopher Kant; he believes to be the firstinfluential modernist. Kant therefore generated a patternwhich was then used and reused, it was a particularmedium in order to define and refine the techniques of such medium, a technique that Greenberg referred to as ‘self-criticism’, this suggests that painting, should use artto call attention to art, in the necessity to emphasise thecharacteristics of the medium; ‘the flat surface, the shapeof the support, the properties of the pigment’. Greenbergis of the opinion that this process would render the art ‘pure’, that the art would in essence ‘speak’ for itself, freefrom outside influence such as theatricality or narrative.The impact of painting should derive from technicalaspects and characteristics of painting, such as colour,form and composition. An example of the type of paintingthat constitutes Greenberg’s definition could clarify this

more clearly. Morris Louis’ painting Alpha Phi (Fig.1) isexactly contemporary in the eyes of Greenberg, andconsists of bold, ragged diagonal streaks of colour againsta backdrop of off white, he uses acrylic paint which blendsinto the background and appear included in the groundand so does not disrupt the picture. The effect that Louisis after in this painting, which fits so well in Modernistpaintings, is the arrangement of colours and the largescale, thus including the criteria that Greenberg believed

to make up Modernist painting; the surface, the size and,shape of the support and the pigment. It would



consequently lose its real meaning if it was on a muchsmaller scale, as it consumes so much of one’s visualfield. In Greenberg’s view, the style and intrinsic qualitiesof forms and colours offer the viewer ‘a sufficient degree

of aesthetic power’

[Aesthetics: is a branch of philosophy dealing with thedefinition of beauty. The word aesthetic can be used as anoun meaning ‘that which appeals to the senses.’ Aesthetics in art: although there is the assumption thatart appreciation is in the eye of the beholder, althoughthere are certain elements that we can define across agroup of paintings, that can be generalised or delineated,

and hence discussed and analysed on their own merits.Generally art adheres to the aesthetic principles of symmetry, focal point, pattern, contrast, movement, andgestalt. The principles of aesthetics give us a basis fordiscussion.

Victor Burgin, however, sees Greenberg’s approach andtheoretical acclamation towards modernist paintings as ‘the terminal point of (this) historical trajectory’. It could

be argued however that Greenberg’s choice of painting,such as Louis’ represents a point in art by which it couldnot be refined further, and so in Burgin’s view, it becomesstagnate. From Burgin’s viewpoint, Greenberg showspartiality towards aesthetics and technical issues, thissuggests that those types of art which are validated bytheir relationship with historical or political context areunimportant. Following on from this, in a Burgin frame of mind, art should fit into a conceptual formation, with itssocio-historical context, and with that said, technicalissues and colour and form will become inferior next toideas and representations. Following that the new meansof representation such as photography and installation cantake over, but then do not fit easily into the Modernistaesthetic view.

It would be apt to mention here the relevance of

Formalism; a method of aesthetic analysis thatemphasises structural elements and artistic techniques



rather than content, especially in literary works. ClementGreenberg brought about the first principles of whatbecame known as Formalism with his numerous writingson the emergence of modern art in America in the 1930’s

and 1940’s. Formalism in art is the notion that a work'sartistic value is entirely determined by its form. However,because notions of 'artistic form' tend to vary, thisdoctrine of Formalism varies with it. Greenberg began byplacing the value of modern art on form, conceiving of 'artform' as achieved by eliminating representational andillusionist aspects of a work and replacing them withaspects of the work's internal identity. Formalism istypically noted as being in direct opposition to Realism.

“To appreciate a work of art we need bring with usnothing but a sense of form and colour and a knowledgeof three-dimensional space…” Greenberg furtheraddressed this placement of artistic value by noting thatdefining a work of art by the art form, or medium, itrepresents results in an auto-isolation of the work in itsmedium, and the limiting of its artistic possibilities to thenature of its medium, while at the same time proving the

ability to hold its own value. The outcome of this self-criticism and defining of boundaries was a separation of the art forms that had succeeded in merging during andafter Impressionism. This earlier merging resulted in a'confusion of the arts', which ultimately spurred thesegregation. According to Greenberg, the 'confusion of the arts' resulted in a lack of purity, and consequently, hesees abstraction to be the purest art of all.

Burgin’s statement expands the concept of art beyondthose set by the ‘Greenbergian Modernism’ and allows fora whole new series of conceptual work to be seen, such asMel Ramsden’s Secret Painting, which ‘plays upon theirony that language is both a medium supposedly distinctfrom art and the source of information about art’s contentand meaning’

Burgin’s accepted wisdom provides us with a more

informed way of thinking about, and identifyingpostmodernist works of art rather than Modernist, he also



sets postmodernism in the context of its past history, forexample Duchamp’s ready-mades and Hockney’sphotomontages. With that said however, it is much easierto define a piece of work or an artist into the

postmodernist criteria, rather than to actually define whatit is that puts them in this criterion. There is muchambiguity about the concepts surrounding Postmodernisttheory, although there are many reoccurring pointsassociated with Postmodernism which can be related toBurgin’s view, including the importance of representations, historical context, and signifying practice.

Alongside Duchamp and his readymades, there was Jeff

Koons who appropriated images and turns them intoworks of art, like Duchamp, removing them from theoriginal situation, size, makeup etc, transforms them intosomething new. Koons critiques the modernist idea of artas essentially original. Koons creates a vast amount of work, covering a span of different styles; his style iseclectic and therefore often associated withPostmodernism. Alongside this, there is the temporalityissue in Koons work, such as that of Puppy (Fig. 3,situated outside the Guggenheim in Bilbao, made of flowers) this relates closely to the issues of superficialityin Postmodernism. The ephemeral nature of Koons workconnects to other issues about Postmodernism that Burgindoes not often directly refer to, such as; the criticalapproach of exhibitions and museums, which lead directlyonto the way the work is displayed, and often the satiricalapproach to earlier works of art.

“Greenberg’s modernism was to be rigorously abstract –content, he wrote, was ‘something to be avoided like theplague’.”

By the end of the 1950’s, Clement Greenberg was a wellrenowned name that was made famous for makingmodernism a popular term in art, particularly after thepublishing of “Modernist Painting’; Greenberg's first essay

on modernism, clarifying many of the ideas he believedthis art movement to be. In the second paragraph he



offers what may be the most elegant existing definition of modernism:

“... the use of characteristic methods of a discipline to

criticise the discipline itself, not in order to subvert it butin order to entrench it more firmly in its area of competence.”

The essay is notable for its illuminating (and largelyundeveloped) observations about the definitions andhistory of pictures, let alone Greenberg's perception of thecharacter and importance of the avant-garde. Greenbergused ‘Modernism’ to define the characteristics of his

‘aesthetics’; he maintained that to create ‘advanced’ art, itdeveloped from a more complex to a less complex degreeof understanding. Greenberg also argues against the artthat was ‘received’ not ‘achieved’. This came from theunderstanding that to create a ‘good’ piece that wasaesthetically pleasing, some may argue that it is simple,and flat, with very little meaning. However, does apainting need to be, in essence, be about something to besuccessful?

“The essence of Modernism lies… in the use of thecharacteristic methods of a discipline itself… What had tobe exhibited and made explicit was that which was uniqueand irreducible not only in art in general but also in eachparticular art. Each art had to determine, through theoperations peculiar to itself, the effects peculiar andexclusive to itself.”

As mentioned before, Greenberg was of the belief thatKant was the first real modernist, ‘Kant used logic toestablish the limits of logic’. It seems that Kant raised thefirst questions of beauty and the aesthetic beauty intomore than just happening to be of the opinion that onefeels they like or dislike. There are many questions thatwere summoned in relevance to art and to how weappreciate art.



“Must we judge it beautiful in a way distinctive from ourappreciation of natural beauty? How is art produced?What makes for creativity? ... What is the value of beauty? How does it fit into our social, political, cultural

and moral lives?”

In reference to the questions that ask what beauty is, andin essence, how do we judge it? The answer is fairlysubjective, being that their can be no firm answer.Deciding what one believes to be beautiful can bedetermined from a gut feeling, of like or dislike. Kantreferred to our sensual clarifications as ‘sensibility’, beingthat of intuitions and representations, or impressions.

From birth we are taught to think and feel and withapproaching new objects, images etc, we are then able toclassify them and group them together, we use ourhistorical senses to decide an outcome on how successfulthey are with regard our senses.

In the context of social and political issues of the late1960’s and the times following, paintings that wereacclaimed by Clement Greenberg might have appeared

increasingly irrelevant. The movement Dadaism would notseem of high importance in a Greenbergian art view.Clement Greenberg was openly opposed to the FrenchDadaist member, Marcel Duchamp. In Burgin’s view, whenGreenberg supports and shows favouritism towardsaesthetic and technical issues, it tends to make types of art which demonstrate a relationship with historicalcontext, and representing their times, appear lessimportant.

While researching Modernism, and before evaluatingPostmodernism in the subsequent chapters, I think that itan ideal opportunity to mention Gerhard Richter. In themid 1980’s, Richter produced a series of abstractpaintings, and in them, appeared to be reiterating theprinciples that reinforced post-war Modernism, byfavouring abstract artistic modes over realistic ones.

Richter even appeared to be mocking the neo-Expressionistic style, but then endeavoured to complicate



matters by depicting ‘expression’ on a photo-realisticbackground; this resulted in an inspirationally ‘Postmodern’ piece of work. Initially ‘Richter’s abstractionwas based on the painted depiction of photo blow-ups of

small-scale ‘gestural’ sketches.’ These works of artinvolved many elements of abstract painting for example;line, hard edge, soft edge, smooth and brushy, amongothers. Out of Richter’s work emerged a new ingredient;irony. Richter appeared to consciously fashion his style of painting with the idea of deconstructing the ideology of Modernism, as he was not directly looking for aestheticassurance, but more to demonstrate that the ‘desire foraesthetic conviction is either culpable or absurd.’

Alongside Clement Greenberg, and equally as relevant inreviewing Modernism versus Postmodernism, VictorBurgin is also a very influential artist and a renownedtheorist of the still and moving image. Burgin was born inSheffield in 1941 and attended the Royal College of Artfrom 1962 to 1965; he then went on to study at YaleUniversity from 1965 to 1967. His art is inseparable fromhis theoretical writings, and you can see a close link andreference to theorists such as Roland Barthes. Burgin sawphotography as a way to converse and a way to ‘a moreproductive social engagement’, and conceived that therewas not a day that went past that photography (in someshape or form) was involved in our lives. He wassupported in this by Barthes. His early work was based onthe juxtaposition of texts and images; such as Possession(Fig. 4). His later works have explored the representation

of women, drawing attention to how women are ‘fetishised’ through types of imagery. Possession was afake article produced in 1976, in which 500 images werereproduced and posted all over Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Itpoked fun at the role that advertising plays in the world,and suggests an incompatible resolute between genderand economy, not only that but it also demonstratedanother post-Modernist artist who was not overlyconcerned with interminable work, tackling the issues of

temporality, as noted with Koons’ work. As stated earlier,Burgin does not openly refer to certain issues concerning



Postmodernism; but does illuminate them in his ownpractical work. Possession supports this, by using a glossyadvertising-style photograph, enlarged. Burgin calls intoquestion the perspective on the image, and also issues of

gender, dominance, ownership and social normality. Theway it is displayed, by removing it from a gallery typedisplay, can be seen as a criticism of both originality, andthe importance of it in work, but also the necessity of exhibitions and the museum system. Works by Burginhighlight his view on the importance of concepts inpostmodernist art, and the tendency to invite the viewerto interact, and participate in the works of art.

The conceptual movement of the late 1960’s wasprimarily, it seemed a revolt against Modernism, whichwas detailed by Clement Greenberg. Although, after 1968,which could be seen as the ‘watershed’, with studentdisputes, anti-Vietnam-war demonstrations, civil rightsand women’s movements, all of these instances could bedepicted as the forces that directed in Postmodernism.The list of events that helped Postmodernism come intoaction were also helped along by the loss of confidence ina single political voice, which led directly onto thesufficiency of Modernism-the dominant movement of thattime.

“Modernism, as a movement or at least a looseconfederation, is a set of ideas and beliefs about artproduced in the modern period. It was, broadly speaking,the cultural outcome of modernity, the social experienceof living in the modern world.”

The commencement of the nineteenth century sees thebeginning of Modernism, as it was a time when all things ‘modern’ were fashionable, it was progressing as a moreindependent culture; objects, art, literature, all thesethings did not come under scrutiny as much, but moreappreciated by the independence of its values. It can besaid that Modernism, primarily referred to as the ‘avant-

garde’, was recognised as a movement in France, where itfirst appeared in literature and then with art; highlighted



by works by such artists as Manet. It is quite definitely nota movement that has made a dramatic entrance incontrast to the past, and neither did it seem to have anagenda in which it was following, it more seemed to be

distracted by a dogma, which first and foremostconcerned itself with aesthetic quality in a piece of work.

Modernism is characterised and defined by the diversityand range of methods there are that make up the artwork of the Modernist period. Many could describeModernism as a very innovative and experimental period,taking into account the range of styles that existed, therisks and the nature by which the paintings were created,

the gamble and the ‘breaking away’ from the traditionalwas what distinguished Modernism as such.

With that said however, modern art and Modernism aretwo separate affairs. Modernism supports individual andindependent ideals, and is associated with the practice of modern art, but then there is the representation of allthings modern, where an artist or suchlike attempts to beindependent in style and form.

A significant feature of Modernism can be seen, for allsense and purposes, as a manner of representation, ascertain relationships become evident; such as the onebetween art and theory, but also art and language. Therelationship between art and theory could be explainedthrough the fact that any theoretical work developed fromthe artist, is a subsequent act of the work itself, itattempts to attach insight into the practical work.

Modernist art would not for example rely on explanationto define its purpose. A piece of work should speak foritself. Throughout Modernism, there was the distinctnotion that boundaries were not as obvious as they hadbeen in the past throughout other movements.

In terms of its critical and historical usage, Modernismwas seen to cover two separate paths; the first of these

takes into account, the demand that the visual arts should



reflect, or exemplify broad processes of modernisationand their collective effects. The second is the evaluation of the quality of the works of art. The second suggests thateach piece of work of art would have to measure up to a

certain criteria of aesthetic uniqueness, whilst at the sametime being distinguishable from other art movements. Thedistinction could be made through the new types of paints, mediums and other materials that were beingexperimented with and used. The subject for the paintingswere no longer what could be represented in the visualworld we see, but instead was concerned with makingabstractions rather than representing what is real. Thecolours which were used, along with the materials clearly

rejected naturalistic form, and a variety of choppy, clearlyvisible brushstrokes were used instead of compiling markupon mark to create the desire effect, as the old mastershad done. Combined with the rejection of representingwhat can be observed, line, form, colour and processbecame increasingly accepted as valid subject matteralone.

Greenberg was massively influential in setting thestandards and the pace of which ‘Modernism’ was tofollow, arguably being the most influential critic of thepost 1945 period. The term ‘Modernism’ became notablymore popular as Greenberg applied it to a diverse rangeof representations and artistic practices.

“Modern art to me is nothing more than the expression of contemporary aims of the age that we’re living in.”

After 1945, came the avidly appreciated and celebratedstyle of art called ‘Abstract Expressionism’, which saw adistinct shift in artists’ interests and priorities and mainlystyle. Greenberg was an enthusiastic supporter of thisnew style of art, especially Jackson Pollock and otherAbstract Expressionist working through the middle of thetwentieth century.

“…the ‘look’ of these paintings was their most significantfeature, in sharp contrast to the political intentions of



artists who had worked during the Depression, for whomart was part of the intense ideological struggles over thecrisis in US capitalism and over the possibility of analternative, socialist future…”

The ‘look’ of these paintings was a major factor of theseworks of art, as they were so contradictory to the styleand approach of paintings before the USA entered theSecond World War. Both Pollock and Rothko, leadingAbstract Expressionist painters, seemed to be workingfreely and without restraints after the war, as their workprior 1945 was realist and comparable to that of ‘naturalism’ or ‘social realism’.

Jackson Pollock (1912 – 1956) was one of the mostcelebrated American painters. His early work, asmentioned before was devoid of similarities of the work hewas most known for, as his work was influenced greatlyby his mentor, and teacher Thomas Hart Benton, but soonbecame inspired by surrealist practice. By the late 1940’s,he began to pour paint freely and effectively ontocanvases that were placed on his studio floor. Not only did

this fit into the category of Abstract Expressionism, butwas poignant to the criterion laid down by Greenberg forModernism. In this instance, Modernism - known for itsdeliberate departure from tradition and the use of innovative forms of expression that distinguish manystyles - can be seen quite obviously here in Pollock’swork. Modernism also was known for its form andstructure, and by Pollock working and creating work oncanvas which is placed on the floor, he seems to besupporting not only Modernism, but all of what Greenbergappreciated in painting. By fashioning a new method of working off of the easel, Pollock was ‘one of the firstAmerican painters who moved from salon-size painting tolarge-scale, almost mural-size work.’

Although Post Modernism leads on from Modernism as thename suggests, it is a highly controversial term and not at

all as straight forward as it looks as it appears in a varietyof study areas and cannot be chronologically placed.



Postmodernity bred a pluralist culture in which artisticpractices proliferated without any agreed goals.Depending on the art critics’ opinion, the end of Modernism was announced pretty much as soon as it

began. The term Post Modernism gained most weight inthe mid 70’s, when it was used to try and categoricallypin-point developments in art, from Pop art to Conceptualart that seemed to challenge formalist aesthetics andreverse the beliefs in Modernism and turn them towardsincreasingly pure abstraction. ‘The broadest definition of Postmodernism, then, would be; the non-abstract art of the sixties, seventies, and eighties… Put as simply aspossible, Postmodernism challenges the Modernist

certainty about the autonomy of art’ Postmodernism canmost obviously be noted for dealing with ‘signification,originality, appropriation, authorship and ideology’ , andso for the Postmodernist there appears to be nothing trulyoriginal, and most works of art produced throughrepresentations.

“Postmodernist art is an art whose purpose is no longer toproclaim its autonomy, its self-sufficiency, itstranscendence; or rather it is to narrate its owncontingency, insufficiency and lack of transcendence”.

The Allegorical Perspective, written by Craig Owens, onthe Postmodern is mainly concerned with time,preservation and use of history as an appropriated form inart. For a long time, the refusal to tolerate the avant-garde and the experimentation of Postmodernist theory ishighly politicised in the battle with the technological,industrial based artists who focus on the realism andidentity of the work. Aesthetics and the criteria for judgment on the beautiful are debated by Kant and histheory on the sublime and the subjective demands of politics.

After the deterioration of Modernism in the 1960’s,contemporary art became a heavily debated topic, with

Clement Greenberg as the foremost spokesman.Modernism openly had an uneasy relationship with the



increasingly popular Postmodernism; it did not appear toengage easily with the questions of authenticity,autonomy and originality.

With that said however, many of the defining factors of Modernism seem to also be defining features of Postmodernism such as; the removal of fixed narrativepoints of view, and direct moral positions, there was alsothe overall rejection of formal aesthetic theories in favourof experimentation and a promotion in creativity.Alongside the rejection of aesthetic theories, there was afurther rejection of the unambiguous ‘high’ and ‘low’ artthat was evident in the choice of materials and traditional

methods of displaying art. Art was no longer bound tobeing displayed on the walls, in the long-establishedmanner that had gone before.

Many had begun to see the modernist experience as beingoppressive, imperialist and tired. The limits of explorationhad been reached inside the scope of the modernist view.After the Second World War the world started to enter thepostcolonial period and modernism began to appear as a

relic of the colonial modernist period. New avenuesneeded to be explored and the way was open for the shiftto post modernism.

While some feel that post modernism is a form of anti-modernism (deconstructive postmodernism), other criticsfeel that it is a re-appraisal and revision of the modernistperspective. While modernism was obsessed withclassification, groupings and order, postmodernism is a lot

more elusive in its definitions. Modernism gave usnumerous artistic movements, each one striving to bringthe art world forward in a new direction. ButPostmodernist art has not had the same number of strictlycompartmentalised movements and factions as Modernismhas. It is a pastiche of the elements that went before andones that were ongoing.

While the modernists looked to the future and technicaladvancement for inspiration, they were unaware of what



the future and technology had in store for them. Thetechnological horrors enacted in two successive worldwars, culminating in the atomic bombings of Hiroshimaand Nagasaki and the murder factories of Auschwitz and

Dacchau left them demoralised and hollow. It was hard tomaintain hope for the future in the wake of this savagery.This led some artists in America to turn their attention tothe present and in particular the contemporary popularculture. Thus Pop art was born and postmodernist art hadtruly arrived.

The development of Pop Art in America is not so easy toidentify, it seemed to develop quite slowly, following on

from the existing Abstract Expressionist style, and fromartists such as Willem de Kooning, who was one of themain artists of Abstract Expressionism, and also a massiveinfluence on their work. The beginning of the Pop Artmovement appears be from 1950’s, predominantlymarked by the emergence of Robert Rauschenberg andJasper Johns, although it could be said that thismovement began in 1955, the full impact of Pop art wasnot appreciated until the beginning of 1961, where itbegan to succeed on a more material level and the artistsbecame established and affluent within a short space of time.

Pop Art did not however solely bare its roots from AbstractExpressionism; it cannot deny that the Europeanmovement of Dadaism contributed to ideas andinfluences. Marcel Duchamp, as one of the leading Dadaistwrote to Hans Richter:

“This Neo-Dada, which they call New Realism, Pop Art,Assemblage, etc., is an easy way out, and lives on whatDada did. When I discovered ready-mades I thought todiscourage aesthetics. In Neo-Dada they have taken myready-mades and found aesthetic beauty in them. I threwthe bottle rack and the urinal into their faces as achallenge and now they admire them for their aesthetic

beauty.”



In reference to the quote above, Duchamp notablyobserves the difference and the understandableresemblance to the Dada movement. Primarily one wouldsee that there is an obvious link to the movement which

Duchamp could be said to be responsible for, but althoughthe Pop artists may mimic many of the Dada techniquesthere appears to be not so much of the Dada philosophyto accompany it. Here, we must remind ourselves thatDadaism was making a statement; it was anti-art, anti-aesthetics. What is noticeable in the Pop artists work – atleast in their more experimental and early days – was thatthey appeared to find a positive notion to their work.

“If Pop Art was (as it seems to have been) the first artwhich was deliberately not made to last, the implication isclear. The passion for obsolescence wasn’t an eccentricity– it amounted to a statement that no art, henceforth,would be any more durable. Everything about Pop Artwas, and is, transient and provisional. By embracing thesequalities, the Pop artists held a mirror to society itself.”

Dadaism was an artistic and literary movement reflecting

a widespread nihilistic protest against all aspects of Western culture, especially against militarism during andafter World War I (1914-1918). The term Dada, theFrench word for hobbyhorse, is said to have been selectedat random from a dictionary. Dada was originated in 1916by a group of intellectuals living in Zurich, Switzerland. Asimilar revolt against conventional art occurredsimultaneously in New York City led by Man Ray, MarcelDuchamp, and Francis Picabia, in Paris, where it becamethe inspiration for the Surrealist movement. After WorldWar I the movement spread to Germany. In their effortsto express the rejection of all current aesthetic and socialvalues, the Dadaists frequently used artistic and literarymethods that were deliberately incomprehensible. Theirtheatrical performances and proposals were oftendesigned to shock, with the aim of startling the public intoa reconsideration of accepted aesthetic values. To this

end, the Dadaists used novel materials, includingdiscarded objects found in the streets, and new methods,



such as allowing chance to determine the elements of their works. Although the Dadaists employedrevolutionary techniques, their revolt against standardswas based on a profound belief, stemming from the

romantic tradition, in the essential goodness of humanitywhen uncorrupted by society. Dada as a movementdeclined in the 1920s, and some of its practitionersbecame prominent in other modern-art movements,notably Surrealism. During the mid-1950s an interest inDada was revived in New York City among composers,writers, and artists, who produced many works withDadaist features.

Marcel Duchamp, born in 1887 in Blainville (Seine-Infériuere) in Normandy, was always cited as aPostmodernist artist, but mainly can be pinpointed toworking within the Modernist period. Duchamp expressedinterest in mathematics, science, optics, and established aconceptual direction for art work, this was in the form of his ‘readymades’ – a transformation of an object into anart solely by a matter of selection or placement – byplacing it in an aesthetic gallery or art world context, itwas awarded added meaning than merely an object.

With this idea in mind Duchamp seemed to be attemptingto recreate meaning through language, object andidentity. Fountain (Fig.2) was one of the first mostrecognisable pieces of the Dadaist movement. By turningthe urinal upside down and calling it something else,Duchamp transformed this said object’s identity, urgingthe audience to rethink the meaning of the piece. Byremoving an object from its original setting and making adecision to place it elsewhere, and by renaming it, theidentity of that object is then completely extinct, and theartist then has the responsibility to direct the audience tothe new meaning.

“Ultimately, it should not be looked at… It’s not the visualaspect of the Readymade that matters, it’s simply the fact

that it exists.… Visuality is no longer a question: the



Readymade is no longer visible, so to speak. It iscompletely grey matter. It is no longer retinal.”

The experimentation of appropriating found objects and

materials as one of the first ‘readymades’ caused apolitical outcry. Therefore there were many repercussionsconcerning arguments in the art world regarding financialand aesthetic qualities.

For Duchamp, his new found work was allegorical as thework is of industrial and domestic medium, crossingboundaries and creating conceptual based work that didnot appear to offer the same level of importance as other

pieces of work would for other artists. For that reasonDuchamp did not attach great importance to his physicalwork and did not perceive it as unique, solely valuing itconceptually.

The concept of the work when it is in the gallery is wherethe fundamental importance lies. The artist entices thepublic with recognisable and a seemingly humorouscombination of domestic materials with an extraneous

setting: the gallery space.

“He wanted to kill art (‘for myself’) but his persistentattempts to destroy a frame of reference altered ourthinking, established new units of thought, ‘a new thoughtfor that object’.”

Through his work, Duchamp did not appear to concernhimself too much with aspects of reality or identity; he

doesn’t try and present something that is not presentable,but instead is devoted to the ‘illusion’ of the work. It wasessential for there to be a recognisable presence in thework so that the audience can identify with the work insome way, albeit on a superficial level.

Concerning the main ideas that support Victor Burgin’stheory of art; Robert Rauschenberg was one of the mostinfluential postmodernist painters of his era. Although the

majority of his work was up and down, he could be placedinto Modernist then again in Postmodernist, but the heart



of his work lay with Postmodernism. Thirty-five years afterDuchamp’s fountain, Rauschenberg is renowned for thepiece titled Erased de Kooning in which he asked for adrawing from Willem de Kooning that he could erase. In

the finished piece of the erased drawing given toRauschenberg, all that remained was the title of the work,his signature, and the frame; this enabled the arousingquestions in this movement of authorship. Rauschenbergthen continued to push the limits of conceptuality, and in1962, he demonstrated how conceptual structure candetermine the uniqueness and discover its visual meaning.

Rauschenberg disregarded Greenberg’s theories, and laid

claim that painting with expression had been exhausted,as if colour, texture, contrast, and brushstroke, all aspectsof Abstract Expressionism, were no longer concerned asbeing ‘vehicles of feeling’. Rauschenberg attempted todirect his point more fully when creating the paintingsFactum I and Factum II. The First of these paintings weresupposedly made up of random combinations and by allaccounts indiscriminate brushstrokes, and thencontroversially made a near identical painting, all of whichdisproved the theories of originality, putting to questionthe notions of randomness and spontaneity.

Bed (Fig. 5) is one of Rauschenberg's first ‘Combines’, hisown term for his technique of attaching cast-off items,such as rubber tires or old furniture, to a traditionalsupport. In this case he framed a well-worn pillow, sheet,and quilt, adorned them with scribbled, pencil, andsplashed them with paint, in a style derived from AbstractExpressionism. In mocking the seriousness of thatambitious art, Rauschenberg predicted an attitude morewidespread among later generations of artists—the Popartists, for example, who also appreciated Rauschenberg'srelish for everyday objects.

The materials used to create Bed are believed to beRauschenberg's own, pressed into use when he lacked the

money to buy a canvas. Since the artist himself probablyslept under this very sheet and quilt, Bed is as personal as



a self-portrait, or more so - a quality consistent withRauschenberg's statement;

“Painting relates to both art and life. . . . (I try to act in

that gap between the two).”

Although the materials here come from a bed, and arearranged like one, Rauschenberg has hung them on thewall, like a work of art. So the bed loses its function, butnot its associations with sleep, dreams, illness, sex - themost intimate moments in life.

Where it is obvious that the Postmodernists relegated all

acceptance of aesthetic beauty in their work, and made itclear that purity was not ‘key’, was not important ornecessary, the Modernist artist - although worked for thesame ideals - believed in aesthetics. If we believe likeGreenberg that aesthetic judgement is involuntary, andtaste ‘objective’, then it should follow that the paintings of the mid-twentieth century looked like they did, and weremade how they were made, because they were made tooffer the audience an adequate degree of aesthetic power.

I hold the opinion that aesthetics in art are relevant, andit is also very subjective, I do not think that it is necessaryto have only a conceptual requirement for creating a pieceof work. I believe that the piece of work should bewhatever the audience wants to make of it, albeit with orwithout concept. Dadaists may disagree, and think thattheir work is not to be appreciated aesthetically, butaesthetic beauty requires a response from the senses;

sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. One may not thinkthat a urinal turned upside down and called art isparticularly ‘beautiful’ but it may provoke an alternativeunderstanding, and stimulate a smile or a laugh, which initself is a beautiful act. Sensuality demands the object.

“One might not literally see humour when one looks atFountain; it may not be detectable by sight. But it is felt.One is struck by the cleverness of the piece. It is a satiric

gesture.”



One of the most defining features of aesthetic judgement,according to Kant, is its ‘disinterestedness.’ There aredifferent types of interest, for example, ethical,instrumental, and appetitive. The first two here, answer a

rational demand; the last stipulates that the judgementcannot be determined by something that satisfies a desireor lack. Judging an object or piece of work, is mostlymade by some part of ones self, unlike what we think, of it as being subjective. Neither, it seems, can the judgement be objective, in the sense of rational orcognitive theory, this is because the object of aesthetic judgement is one that eludes conceptual definition andcognitive clarity. It is the focus of a suggestive, sensory

experience.

“…if these paintings fail as vehicles and expressions of feeling they fail entirely…”

Greenberg wrote this in 1963, along with the thought thatif none of them succeeds, then, by implication the thesisof ‘Modernist Painting’ fails with them.

Through researching, evaluating and writing about boththe ideals of both Modernism and Postmodernism,discovering the ideas and reasoning of artists of the mid-twentieth century, it is evident to me through both myunderstanding of what the main critical theorists of thosemovements stand for and through making decisions aboutmy practical work, I believe that work can be made forwhat the artist wants it to be. I believe that work can, inessence, just ‘be’.

Although Greenberg and Burgin are both acclaimed critics,who is to say that their opinion is more superior to that of someone else? A piece of work can be appreciated forbeing aesthetically pleasing, and it is this opinion that I’mmore swayed to agreeing with Greenberg’s ideals on art.Being aesthetically successful does not necessarily meanthat the piece of art work has to be pleasing to the eye; itcould very well be a negative response that is evoked.Something that is ‘ugly’ can be equally as effective in



stirring someone’s senses as something that is essentiallypleasant to look at, and it is this that is a success on thebasis of aesthetics. This idea reverts back to thesuggestion that there are two opposing sides, in the most

simplistic terms; Modernism appeals directly to the sensesand Postmodernism demands a response throughlanguage and ideas.

Through careful consideration and deliberation, andworking through the information I have found regardingthe two foremost movements of the twentieth century, Ithink I am clear of the reasoning behind both Modernistand Postmodernist theory, I see myself supporting many

of the claims laid bare by Modernism; I find it increasinglydifficult to distance myself from work that is made withPostmodernist theory in mind, but at the same timetriggers a strong aesthetic response within. With this inmind, I strongly believe that for a piece of work to besuccessful in my minds eye, I think that it would need toappeal directly to the senses, rather than through an ‘idea’ of sensual presence. I find myself respondingpositively to paintings that are full of texture,brushstrokes, and energy, and therefore provoke aresponse to aesthetics.

In response to the earlier quote, of paintings being ‘vehicles and expressions of feeling’, who is to judge ordecide whether they be such vehicles? Who is qualified toanswer this, and decide whether they succeed as vehiclesconveying feelings, and on what foundation are theysupposed to do so. If a painting evokes any kind of response or feeling, with regards aesthetics, Greenberg,being the foremost advocate of Modernism, and aestheticsbeing a most important factor of his studies and beliefs,we establish that Greenberg is not the only judge, butamongst many. I conclude this because every individual isreadily able to make a decision concerning their directfeelings in response to artwork.

“As a critical position, Modernism has been characterisedas a form of authority arbitrating over aesthetic value.



The demise of the authority does not mean, however, thatthe problems of valuation are either solved or renderedirrelevant. In fact, though the post-modern was not anexplicit concern of art criticism until the late seventies, we

would propose that inquiry into the artistic (as opposed tomore broadly cultural) character of the post-modern couldusefully commence at that point in the later 1960’s whenthe virtue and authority of Modernism itself first comeunder sustained examination from within the actualpractice of modern art.”

absence and presence

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