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Time for Something New
William Sundwick
Introduction: Postmodernism
Those of us introduced to art and aesthetics through a
mid-century lens thought all things modern were products of the twentieth
century – especially, the early twentieth century. They included dadaism, surrealism,
and theatre of the absurd. These were protesting a tyrannical art establishment
controlled by an elite art school aristocracy. The Avant-Garde
emerged, spelling the end of modernism. Thanks to new technologies of art
reproduction (cinema, wax recordings, radio), art was becoming more accessible
to a wider audience. The old elites were losing their power. Cultural
relativism replaced scientific determinism, absolutism, in art. Soon, the
conceits of late modernism, including cubism and abstract expressionism, also became
old-fashioned and conventional.
The twentieth century was awful in many ways. Despite
tremendous technological progress and greater egalitarianism, there were those
horrible wars, and growing insecurity afterwards. The brittleness of capitalism
became apparent with the Great Depression, and nuclear annihilation haunted us
throughout the post-WWII Cold War. What’s more, prosperous societies of the
global north (North America and Western Europe) were struck by the folly of
imperialism – the global south (all other cultures) were recognized as the
struggling majority in the world, kept down largely by our heavy boot.
Multi-cultural diversity was now a goal. Variety of cultural
experiences, sometimes expressed as moral relativism, became a dominant theme
in western art. “Postmodernism”
was the name given to this new sensibility.
The Unraveling
Like modernism before it, postmodernism, too, eventually got
old. A new art establishment now set the standards, after changing a few rules.
Postmodern art may have been more “woke,” but was no more open, thanks to a
patronage system that still controlled exhibiting and distribution.
In political culture as well, postmodernism began to show
strain. Tribalism made a depressing comeback. Critics saw cultural relativism
as ultimately leading to “post-truth” politics
in our public discourse.
For young artists, the pressure to conform to standards
clearly created by elites who benefit from them is unacceptable. Yet, being
anchorless with respect to cultural norms exacerbates the growing depression, anomie, felt by
many young people. The retreat into tribalism offers some solace.
In the 21st century, we are now confronted by the
specter of climate change destroying civilization – much as we feared the bomb
in the Cold War years. What have we done? Is there a way out? What
is the role of art, anyway, regardless of how much time we have left?
Moral relativism does not make us feel better. Our political
culture must be more than sheer will to power. We want universal truths. We
want to experience them through art. We want unity, not division. I turn to art
when I want to discover those universal truths inside me. I know that the world
is bigger than my tribe. When I create – when I write for this blog – I want to
think I’m giving something to others. And, art is pervasive throughout life.
Artistic expression depends only upon the medium chosen by the artist, and the
depth of feelings expressed.
Metamodernism
Over the last decade, there has emerged a debate among some
cultural theorists and philosophers of aesthetics about the contours of
whatever new aesthetic will replace postmodernism. Timotheus Vermuelen, Robin
Van den Akker and Luke Turner have each used the term “metamodernism” to
describe a pendulum-like movement swinging between modernism, through the space
of postmodernism, and into something beyond. This sticky pendulum picks up
concepts, styles, and subject matter as it swings. It has been doing this for a
hundred years, encompassing the whole epoch of modernism and postmodernism
together, depositing what it scoops up at the doorstep (or studio) of today’s
young artist. It gives them the material they will work with. It is sincere,
more than ironic, experiential more than abstract, and ultimately humane and
idealistic as well. Ethics becomes a primary concern. It’s okay to believe in
things. In its oscillation, the pendulum becomes acutely sensitive to the
demands of the moment. It’s okay to search for meaning. Intellectual exploration
remains a noble pursuit.
Students pursuing metamodern truths will study the past, pay
attention to their surroundings in the present, and talk with others about the future.
They will recognize nihilism as the most negative product of
both modernism and postmodernism. Creativity is not destruction. It is
certainly not true that there are no values. The artist’s role is to crystalize
and depict those values.
Common experiences should be the primary source material for
metamodern art. Cross-cultural (even cross-species?) and very basic – perhaps neurological.
As in the past, when social constraints interfere with art, there
will be an avant-garde ready to deal with the situation. Smashing those
constraints, and overthrowing the establishment which enforced them, was
thoroughly rehearsed when it was time for modernism to be overthrown by
postmodernism. And the pendulum of metamodernism will not ignore that
avant-garde as it swings past into the post-postmodern future. Revolution is in
the air once again in the 2020s.
Examples
While still speculative, some of the characteristics of the
new post-postmodern
sensibility might be found in recent works of visual arts, urban planning,
theater and film, music, and politics.
In the visual arts, a new school of painters have called
themselves “Stuckists,”
after a poem written by one of them about being “stuck” on their art. The group
celebrates figurative painting and photography, as opposed to abstract, or
“conceptual.” They also have coined the term “remodernism” to denote
their dedication to rediscovery of some of the fundamental principles of
modernism, lost to the postmodernists of the last half-century. Their main aim
seems to be dethroning what they call “ego-art,” which springs only from the
mind of the artist, without context in real life experience.
Tom Turner, landscape designer and urban planner, has
embraced the term post-postmodernism to describe his approach to design of
public spaces. He relies on fundamental geometric patterns and Jungian archetypes
to create spaces which convey comfort and familiarity to the occupants.
Although cinema is often suborned to the profit incentive,
some recent activity in the same direction has been observed by critics. Simple
human stories are ascendant over deeply ironic, nihilistic fantasies and
dystopias. Despite the need to appeal to a mass audience, indie films and TV
are beginning to show signs of change. The new economy of streaming services has
enabled much more creative work in television.
One recent big-screen offering, Knives
Out, illustrates a complex metamodern relationship to popular detective
fiction. It’s a story familiar to fans of the modernist Agatha Christie, or the
board game Clue. A famous mystery writer dies unexpectedly following a family
gathering at his gothic home. The family is immediately suspected of foul play
by an improbable private detective brought in by local police as a consultant.
The police favor ruling the death a suicide. Although its script contains much
postmodern irony, the basic layout of the story is strictly Agatha Christie
modern. Each intuitive hunch of detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is fully
explained in concrete real-world context. The overall effect is: “well, of
course, that’s what happened.” It’s a fundamentally post-postmodern plot
development with characters being slightly exaggerated versions of real-world
people we all know.
Metamodernism is also heard in today’s popular music. The
current vogue of country, or “roots,” music is indicative of what some critics
call the New Sincerity.
Folk has replaced rock as a favorite style of the young. The British band Mumford and Sons began
life early in the decade with an uplifting folk-rock style, highlighting banjo
and vaguely Christian-inspired lyrics. Their hit song “I Will Wait”
demonstrated they were onto something. However, by the time they released their
fourth studio album, the banjo disappeared, and the Jungian archetypes became
deeper than the admittedly fuzzy religious references in their earlier work. If
Delta Blues-inspired rock-and-roll was the harbinger of postmodernism (with punk
and metal its pinnacle), then Mumford and Sons Delta album should
be a prime example of post-postmodern popular music.
In politics, as in other artistic representations of culture,
we now have politicians basing their election campaigns on “genuineness” – they
are judged by the media, and voters, on how convincing they are about their
ideals and beliefs. Both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are experts at this. So
was Donald Trump in 2016. Simple human stories, and how well we can relate to
them, are presumed decisive. Regardless of the election’s outcome, the
continuing drama of the campaign illustrates that metamodernist pendulum swing.
Can We Please Think of a Better Name?
New Sincerity? Remodernism? Metamodernism? Is there any
utility in naming schools of art anyway? Labeling the new sensibility in
aesthetics may have to wait for another generation, but names give some
indication of the direction art is moving. “Post-postmodernism” is clumsy, but here’s
what we know: real experience, concrete observable reality, and commonality of
all humanity – or even all sentient beings, if you’re a vegan – is a new
emphasis in art.
Beliefs can be real and justified. But continuous
exploration and study help inform them. Nobody need be left out.
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