Blog Two: Modernism vs. Post Modernsim

         I just wanted to start of by saying that I really appreciate the things I learned  in class this week with the Modernism vs. Post Modernism debate. I mean, honestly I thought it was going to be the most boring thing ever, and I was also very nervous about attempting to debate a subject that I still couldn't quite wrap my head around fully, but I must say it did go much better than I expected it to. Plus, I actually think I can understand the difference between Modernism and Post Modernism now. What surprised me most, though, was learning that, looking past all the differences, Modernism and Post Modernism actually have a good bit of common ground, and that sometimes it is extremely difficult to distinguish whether or not a painting is Modern or Post Modern if you don't know the date of the painting. The best example for this is the one we talked a good bit about in the class debate, Marcel Duchamp's Fountain.

          When I first layed eyes on this "art", I was sure right off the bat that it was Post Modern. But then I realized that it's date said 1917. This astounded me! I mean, how could this urinal be called Modern art??? Well, Duchamp's Fountain is Modern art, because of it's date instead of it's style. When I discovered that, I just knew that us Modernists would have a lot of work to do if we were going to argue our way out of this one. In the long run, though, no one on the Post Modernist team used it against us, and actually, us Modernists are the ones that used Duchamp's piece to spark up an interesting debate within our original debate. It was really fun being so controversial. I can't believe I actually had a good time doing a boring old Art History assignment, but I did, and I learned a little something in the process. I learned that there really is no dotted line, so to speak, that separates Modern Art from Post Modern Art. There are no definitives on either side. Art can be Modern and Post Modern at the same time, depending on who is looking at it. Art can be "beautiful" and "crap" at the same time, depending on who the viewer is. I guess one person's trash really is another person's treasure after all. Here is  link to a website I found that sort of integrates all different kinds of art. I hope you'll enjoy it as I do.
http://www.nobullart.com/index.php?L1=main_gallery

Sincerest Thanks,
Nancy Maher