KEY CONCEPTS/ WORDS Enlightenment, Modernity, Rationalizing, Technology, Efficiency, Town Planning, Functionalist. Post modernity, Inspiration, Progression, Shift in systems, Design, Fragmentation, Pastiche, Eclecticism, Existentialism. OBJECTIVES 1. To study the different styles and progressions of architecture in Newcastle. 2. To look at the political and economic forces that have affected the changing of the cities landscape. 3. To analyse social forces that have initiated the architectural changes. 4. To examine prominent architects and philosophers that have altered the direction of modern and postmodern thinking. SOURCES Books borrowed from Newcastle Upon Tyne University Library. Photos taken in the center of Newcastle, visual media gathered from books, internet sites, magazines, leaflets and newspaper articles. FIELD OF EXPLORATION I am going to look at how the fabric of Newcastle’s architecture has evolved over the past one hundred years. By using photographic data gathered in Newcastle I will be able to draw upon examples which can be analyzed with reference to famous architects of the era. The modern and postmodern architecture of Newcastle lends itself to philosophical and sociological interpretation. CHANGE My project will be looking at the progressions that have forced the architectural changes upon Newcastle. I am hoping to illustrate the shift from modern architecture to postmodern architecture and the philosophical themes that have brought them about. THE GAP BETWEEN HUMANS AND THINGS My aim here is to highlight how man has become disenchanted with the Enlightenment project and scientific progress. Disunity of knowledge in the postmodern era has led to a more confusing, pastiche and fragmented way of interpreting society. This incredulity has in some ways widened the gap between humans and things.
Tag: postmodernism
CONCEPTS Modernity, Postmodernity, Globalisation and McDonaldization. OBJECTIVES 1. To define as clearly as possible the concepts above. 2. To investigate and explain as clearly as possible the change from modernity to postmodernity. 3. To demonstrate how postmodernity manifest itself in the familiar concepts of globalisation and McDonaldization, as something which may be considered distinct from, and yet also an extension of, modernity. 4. To show how we can identify this in our locality, by looking at the fast food industry on Northumberland Street. SOURCES Spaces of Hope – David Harvey The post-modern & the post-industrial – Margaret Rose After Liberalism – Immanuel Wallerstein Postmodern Culture – Hal Foster (Ed.) Consumer Culture and Modernity – Jim McGuigan Jean Baudrillard Selected Writings – Mark Poster (Ed.) The Consumer Society – Jean Baudrillard Fast Food Nation – Eric Schlosser The McDonaldization of Society – George Ritzer Globalization – Malcolm Walters PROJECT TERRITORY/FIELD OF EXPLORATION I am attempting to trace the change in society from the modernity established during the enlightenment period to the postmodernity of today. To show that we are truly in a period of postmodernity I shall investigate the familiar concepts of globalisation and McDonaldization. Here I hope to demonstrate how postmodernity exists as an extension or acceleration of modernity, before investigating the presence of postmodernity in the fast food industry of Northumberland Street.
Abstraction: Imagine a supermarket with aisle upon aisle of purchasable goods appealing to each and every appetite, whim, or fancy. Purchasable for a limited time only, that is, until their ‘sell by date’ runs out, then the shelves are restocked and it is on to the freshest goods and the newest fads. In my project I will investigate whether this is an accurate and justifiable account of contemporary art, and if so, why? Section 1. Modernism, The Search for Ambrosia Enter the intellectual avant-garde, the revolutionaries, pioneers, map readers and guardians of high taste, searching for that which is guaranteed to satisfy. Transgressing old, outdated traditions and paving the way for a new and better future, waiting for the rest of society to follow suit. The Bitter Taste, The Crisis of Modernity: The failure of the artist as the modern hero but his/her brilliant success at becoming an icon. Political incompatibility, the dawning limits of the experimentation and exploration, and the absorption and assimilation of elitist avant-garde artwork by the mindless masses. There were no successful conversions; the artwork was absorbed while the ideologies behind them were not. Section 2. What is a Hot Dog?: Postmodernism, (…is elephant dung the secret ingredient?): Prepare yourself for a scandal. Virtual realities, simulation, canned culture, a schizophrenic way of life abundant in choice. The power in art is no longer found within its creations but the prices they command. Certain lengths are carried out by the artist in order to stand out in this overcrowded artistic stage and thus extend his/her shelf life. No battles, no obligations, no crusade, no spiritual journey, no brotherhood, no notion of linear progression. The task now is keeping fresh and well within your ‘sell by date’. ‘Back of the Net’ Objectives: 1. ‘Subsidence’: The Politics of Post, I shall investigate the ‘gradual shift’ that happened in the attitudes towards art in western civilisation during ‘modernism’ and ‘postmodernism’ in the twentieth century. 2. ‘Mirror Image?’: Reflections of Society, does in any way reflect society and if so, does it follow that because contemporary art is superficial that so too is society? Explore the connotations this might have. 3. GM Free: Commodification Verses Purity, was art always destined to become a commodity? Or was there any real possibility that it could be anything else? 4. When is ‘Shit’ really ‘Shit’?, investigate how defecation has become the marketable medium? The power of shock and the spectacle in a postmodern society. The necessity of extending the artists’ shelf life. Sources: The sources for this project are very extensive and include information obtained from the National Records Office in Kew, newspapers, galleries (specifically, Tate Modern, London, and the Baltic, Gateshead), a numerous amount of books (both from my personal collection and borrowed from libraries) and the World Wide Web. The Philosophical Anchor: In this essay I wish to break through the elusiveness of art and relate it with the human experience. The story of art can go some way in revealing or demonstrating the present human condition. I wish to jump over the partitioning rope, disregard the ‘Do Not Touch’, take the picture from the wall, turn the canvas around and read the ingredients on the back…
OBJECTIVES:- To look at the major changes – thankfully not all disappointments on the pitch that the club has gone through which mirror the changes from modernity to postmodernism. INSPIRATION:- Stadium of Light – & 22 years of solid devotion to the club!!!
How has communication become the driving force? Concepts/Key words: · Communication-from the spoken and written word to the electronic text · Self- from the Cartesian self surrounded by objects to being surrounded by computers who are subjects Objectives: · Examine the paradigm shift in communication-from Modern to Post-modern, from printed to electronic · Analyse the changes in the self-stable Cartesian self (modern individual) to fleeting and transient (post-modern individual) · Describe the lack of authenticity in electronic communication-no trace left by an author · Outline how communication is the driving force in society world revolves around computers, e-mail, Internet… Project Territory · The internet- examining how the language game of electronic communication is used to screen individuals
Objectives – Show how we became mass consumers for our mass production – Trace the role of the advert and media in safeguarding our ‘culture of consumption’ – Expose the inner workings and sinister nature of ‘the advert’ – Show our true relation to our ‘stuff’ ‘Texts’ used: David Harvey – The Condition of Postmodernity 2000 Pierre Martineau – Motivations in Advertising 1957 Jean Baudrillard – Selected Writings 2001 Roland Barthes – Mythologies 1973 Christopher Lasch – The Culture of Narcissism 1979 Umberto Eco – Travels in Hyper-reality 1986 David Collis – The Abuse of Consumerism 1999 Guy Debord – Society of the Spectacle 1983 Milan Yaros – PHY288 Lecture Notes Naomi Klein – NoLogo 2001 Frederick Jameson–Postmodernism/The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism 1991 Judith Williamson – Decoding Advertisements Douglas Holt – Postmodern Markets BBC Documentary (the name of which I have been unable to find out after only managing to record the middle of it!) Harvard Business review – July 1992 Sources used: Photograph of billboard taken 04/02 Adflip.com online poster advert archive Fiat enthusiasts club, advert archive ITV and Channel 4 television adverts Across the fields of psychology sociology, linguistics, semiotics and economics, this project shows how the advertising and mass media techniques have changed alongside the cultural paradigm shift that was postmodernity It shows our relation to the things we surround ourselves with and what they have come to mean to us Hopefully it will invoke a sense of concern about the abusive nature of our relation with our consumer society
Project Title: ‘A Study of the Rise of Twentieth Century Popular Music, And its Subsequent Relationship with the Public Consciousness’. Concepts and Key Words: Music as Entertainment vs Music as Education. Music Defining Morality. Music as a Political Power. Generation Gaps. Music as a Conspiracy of Hope. The Decline in Instruments and the Rise of Machines. Music Reinventing itself. Objectives: 1. To view the effect that music has had on determining the public consciousness from before the Second World War throughout the following decades to today, and vice versa. 2. To understand why popular music has changed so much in such a relatively short period of time, and to establish the influence of world events (such as the Vietnam War) and cultural variations in light of these changes. How music reflects the changing nature of humanity and different times in a postmodern age. 3. To study how music has become more universal since the 1950s. For example, to view not only how has music become less specialised for each listener, but how different genres of music have merged to create new styles altogether, becoming universally popular in the process. Of course, in the midst of all this, we have the effect and the parallels of the public consciousness running alongside these changes. 4. To estimate how the relationship between music and the public consciousness will develop in the twenty first century, based on the signs of today. Will there be another select group of individuals who will be capable of changing popular music as we know it, reflecting again immense change in the world, or will the predictable rise in technology simply overtake man’s capacity to create music in an original way to mirror these developments? Sources: Assorted books and magazines from personal collection, as well as extensive material from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne library. In addition to this, research has and will be taken from the internet (individual group and general websites), as well as video and newspapers. Project Territory/ Field of Exploration: With such a broad and worldwide study area, it is difficult to locate a precise territory, but the focus shall primarily be on the contrasting and comparable changes and effects of/on music between Great Britain and the United States. The Gap Between Humans and Things: A distinction will be made throughout the project between humans and the outside events that influence and determine their lives. It is music here that is often able to bridge that gap; it is able to play such a large part in the life of the individual that it creates a route to a better one. While humans have remained the same in the years covered by the project, the changes seen in the life of popular music are quite dramatic.