(Post)Modern Music

            Dissecting the schematic differences between modernism and postmodernism, the differences became clearer. While I grasped the notions that modernism is about order and a plan and postmodernism is much freer and fluid. These differences are apparent in art, like we discussed in class, but also in music.

After Dr. Cummings played Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, I gave thought to the differences between modernism and postmodernism. For the centuries before modernism, composers tried to make their music sound as tonal (easy and pleasing to the listener by using simple harmonies and chord progressions) and structured as possible. As modernism rose to the foreground of the 20^th century psyche, composers “dare to individuate [themselves]” (Nietzsche 22). As Nietzche says,  “history is the storage closet where all the costumes are kept. [Society] notices that none really fits…” (22). These composers tried to deviate from the standard of the classical composers and began integrating elements from the then burgeoning jazz. Using the new elements of jazz, modernist composers began constantly trying to out modernize themselves with new scales, modes, and melodic phrases. Furthermore, with the advent of vinyl recordings and the ability to mass-produce words and music, composers also used their music to convey new ideas and tell stories in a way Bach preludes or concertos never could.

Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” (bottom of paragraph) illustrates the modern mindset of breaking away from the past. It’s much different than the orchestral pieces of classical music before it and it tells the story of the sexual interactions a goat has after its nap.

As we said in class, postmodernism is in reaction to the modernist mindset of constantly changing and progressing. Postmodern music was just that. There was little form like a verse or chorus and the chord structure was whatever the artist wanted. Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” (performed by the cast of Wayne’s World) is a great example of the freeform attitude that postmodernism embodied. Its lack of form and structure and sporadic bursts of opera, hard rock, and classical music really make it postmodern.

lacansmirror, 9/7

After discussing the schematic differences between modernism and postmodernism, I found myself thinking of other examples in my everyday life that resemble modernism or postmodernism.  Now I realize that a lot of the iconic pieces, houses, or monuments from my hometown, Chicago, have modern or postmodern traits.  For example, Frank Lloyd Wright designed my favorite building's interior, The Rookery (above).  This look includes many contemporary characteristics like the curved staircases hovering over the lobby. It also includes more traditional characteristics like glass roofs seen in conservatories or marble columns.   This lobby is definitely modern because it has very new ideas, but it also incorporates older frameworks as well.
In contrast, Frank Gehry's Pavilion in Millennium Park (left) mimics the same styling as The Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA.  This structure does not "fit in" with the park because it looks like a UFO landed in the middle of downtown Chicago.  However, it is considered the centerpiece of the park because it is so unique.
In the same park, and arguably more of a centerpiece for tourists, Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor (below) also known as "The Bean" is a very postmodern art form because it not only is a giant bean in the center of a beautiful park, but it reflects the entire skyline on one side, the entire lake shore on the other, and warps the faces of hundreds underneath it.  In a postmodern time, this iconic sculpture is the ultimate 'selfie' destination for tourists and a reflection of many other magnificent pieces, our skyscrapers.  Interestingly, to go off of our class conversation about High and Low art.  Visitors unfamiliar with the art piece simply call it "The Bean", whereas those familiar with the arts call it Cloud Gate.  It is such a versatile piece that I believe it is both High and Low art.  It simply depends on the interpreter.  I think that versatile aspect of the piece makes it even more postmodern.

27percent, 9/4

         

We first began discussing modernism and modernity in a more general sense. We looked at the schematic differences of modernism and postmodernism in almost every aspect. Though we have all heard the definitions of modernism and postmodernism before, seeing and hearing the class converse about the side-by-side differences between the two eras made the ideas and theories become more clear to me. Once we started talking about the reading by Simon and Schuster, the idea of modernity and enlightenment was brought up. When Kant was asked what be believed was enlightenment, he answered “disciplinary formations.” He explained these disciplinary formations as an “organized sense of thought,” that came from enlightenment. I have read a few pieces by Kant before, but never really in depth learned and understood his ideas. I’m hoping this class will make theories and theorists more clearly to me than ever before. But I have decided to ‘unpack’ Kant’s modern idea of disciplinary formations and relate it to my life and the way I use organized thought routinely in my life.

          I use organized sense of thought everyday at lacrosse practice in preparation for big games and opponents. The game of lacrosse is more about your mental game than physical and in the end the team and the player that has the best mental game will come out in the end. The two techniques I most commonly use are visualization and self-talk throughout pregame warm-ups for games. Throughout the drills that we do as a team, I am constantly reinforcing myself with positive and confident self-talk. I have gotten better at using this type of organized thought throughout the years and one day I believe I will perfect it and be able to consistently use it to my advantage. The second is visualization that I utilize right before every game time. I visualize the speed of the game (all 60+) minutes, how I will start the game, the way I will carry out specific plays, how I will then redefend if the ball is lost, and how I will keep my composure even in the toughest and emotional moments. I believe Kant’s modernist idea of disciplinary formations is directly relevant to my life and the one’s who have taught me to think in this organized way. 

Almond, Rousseau le tourbillon social

Rousseau's description of the whirlwind that his hero experiences in his novel The New Eloise paint a detailed and ever changing stability of the modern that still hold true today. Although, there has been a shift between city streets to the cyber world this may in fact be only one of the few differences in the struggle of modernity.

 As a student attempting to study communications and new media this fact is driven home even more so. Trying to keep up with the rest of the world is in fact impossible, because the world is moving in to many directions all at once. By the time that a modern person begins to become comfortable or competent with the state of social, economic, technological etc. it changes, shifts and morphs into something else entirely.

This leads to the biggest problem of modernity, the illusion of control and comfort. This is what Rousseau was attempting to convey through Saint-Preux struggles moving out of the country (pre-modern(ity) and into the city (modern(ity).

Today the idea is that people are unique and as such have a voice, power over their self and lives. But this is not the case at all, the assault on the senses and mind in the modern world are too numerous and powerful. Individuality is a construction of a deconstruction and re-assimilation of the whirlwind built both by modernity and as a response-rebellion against modernity.

The force of modernity is strengthened and deluded by in-stability. Rousseau's Saint-Preux says "I don't know one day what I'm going to love the next". To say that Saint -Preux feels unstable would be an understatement, but the catch 22 of living in the modern world is that he is not required to be stable and is both accepted and demanded of him in the "city".

The Modernity Maelstrom

In trying to explain modernity, I am conflicted with so many iterations of what modern life actually is. My confidence lacks in my ability to define modernity not by the capacity that modernism amounts to, but by the contradictions those characteristics make; so I will use agriculture as an example. However, this idea, or lack of, of modernism exemplifies exactly what it means to be a part of a modern society; for as Carl Marx said, "In our days everything seems to pregnant with its contrary."

What Marx meant by this is a large indication of what we now experience as being a part of a modern society. In a pre-modern world, industries were supported by purpose, as well as function - particularly with renewable resources. In the modern era, it seems as though we have reached a plateau in developing and increasing production of renewable resources through advances in areas such as the biology of how we grow and maintain them, as well as the technology we use to harvest them. To give example to Marx's' statement, these seemingly helpful solutions have caused many problems today. To list a few, non-political reasons I'll start with the well-known idea of carbon emissions by the industrialized process of harvesting through gas-run engines. Second, labor replaced by machines, and third, the controversial topic of genetically modified foods for maintaining sustainability as market commodities.

These three examples are but a small example of modern society where the overcoming of controlling nature has in fact put man in his own infamy. One thing is for sure after reading theses three articles; the more I see, the less I know.

Modernity and Ricky Bobby

            Modernity is an enigmatic notion. It illustrates the incredible potential we, as a society, have to progress technologically, economically, and socially, but also constrains us to a belief that if we are not moving forward, we are moving backwards. While juvenile, it is reminiscent of the underlying phrase throughout Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, “if you ain’t first, you’re last." In the movie, the titular character realizes that there are more options than first and last and his mind opens. This transition, while obviously much different than the mindset of society, is a parallel to the transition from modernism to postmodernism, but I think the point of the blog is to be about the reading so here we go.

            The reading contextualizes the birth of modernity well saying it was from an atmosphere “of agitation and turbulence, psychic dizziness and drunkenness…” (18). This atmosphere is conveyed in the readings of Marx and Nietzsche. The recurring word of “abyss” demonstrates the immeasurable possibilities the modern mindset has. Modernism is an overriding feeling of excitement and confusion and that is evident in its writers.  The questions of modernists are “echoing in the air long after the questioners themselves, and their answers, have left the scene” (21) which further proves the quote that it is an aura, not an era. In this new aura of discovery and questioning, many people are left to their own devices to understand the current time they are living in.  

            Modernism promises an “open future” (27) but first it must be broken down beyond the belief that mankind is empty and vacuous focusing only on progressing technologically and economically. The rampant societal consumption stunts the immense potential that modernism brings due the class divide that comes with the forces of modernization and consumption.

            After a couple readings of the material, I think I definitely get a gist of what modernism is. I genuinely look forward to class tomorrow so I can hear what people with different perspectives and are generally smarter than me talk about a fairly dense topic.

Grove Art Online - Modernity

        In Terry Smith's Grove Art Online article, "Modernity," he illustrates how the term can be broken down into two parts: the nature of modernity and modernity and the arts. He first defines modernity as a "term applied to the cultural condition in which the seemingly absolute necessity of innovation becomes a primary fact of life, work and thought." The term originated in the mid-19th century and was powerful during the colonization of non-European countries and new cultures formed in Europe. Smith argues that modernity is not just the idea of something being modern, or the gap between deciphering if something is old or new, it's meaning goes much deeper than that.
        One line that struck me while reading this article was "Modernity is living in, and with, perpetual flux." I found this line intriguing because although it is short, it too has a deep, complex meaning. I think a big idea that goes along with modernity is the idea of change, yet its consistency throughout life. I would personally define "perpetual flux" as an act of flowing or constant movement; continuous succession. Modernity can be seen in and directly flows with change, one cannot happen without the other. As Smith states, change is the inevitable result of functioning forces outside of ourselves and many times is unpredictable. Due to this observation of change, modernity can be something that provokes a "preoccupation in us" with significance, occurrence, as well as definition.
          This idea that Smith is offering about modernity and its nature directly relates to The Communist Manifesto of 1848 by Marx and Engels. Smith does include an excerpt of it but the relationship goes beyond just that. The Communist Manifesto argues that development and production is inevitable and also that relationships change due to different factors. In this manifesto, class relationships were defined by an era's means of production. Although these changes had been resisted from the start of the Industrial Revolution, they occurred anyways due to larger forces of change that drowned the public's resistance to an unpredictable world they were unfamiliar with.
            In summation, modernity has been and will continue to be associated with change, as well as cultural and intellectual movements that occurred during different historical time periods, one example being post-industrial life.