Eli5: What is modernism and post-modernism?
In: 81
Modernism: Science is amazing! Everything is amazing! New discoveries will solve all problems. New art is the way! Make it New!
Post-modernism: Everything you thought was New! was actually a mashup of Old. In fact, everything you think you thought, was actually just a pleasant repetition of other peoples thoughts that they thought they thunked. We should apply this mindset to everything from economics to architecture to art to the physical reality of the world.
Modernism: Science is amazing! Everything is amazing! New discoveries will solve all problems. New art is the way! Make it New!
Post-modernism: Everything you thought was New! was actually a mashup of Old. In fact, everything you think you thought, was actually just a pleasant repetition of other peoples thoughts that they thought they thunked. We should apply this mindset to everything from economics to architecture to art to the physical reality of the world.
Modernism: Shit this painting uses squares and a very limited colour palette which incorporates the primary colours. Going to stick this next to my Bang and Olufsen television which transforms its speaker array into some sort of sculpture/audio device when turned on.
Post Modernism: How am I going to get turned on when everything in society is so badly made, the people have no one to believe in and are Godless?
Post Post Modernism: Sup bitches, how’s 2020 treating you?
Modernism: Shit this painting uses squares and a very limited colour palette which incorporates the primary colours. Going to stick this next to my Bang and Olufsen television which transforms its speaker array into some sort of sculpture/audio device when turned on.
Post Modernism: How am I going to get turned on when everything in society is so badly made, the people have no one to believe in and are Godless?
Post Post Modernism: Sup bitches, how’s 2020 treating you?
Modernism means everything can be measured and deduced to a specific number or title.
Post modernism says “we don’t care about anything that can be proven by science and numbers and logic, we have feelings and we need these feelings validated by forcing other people to validate our feelings”.
Not my best eli5
Modernism means everything can be measured and deduced to a specific number or title.
Post modernism says “we don’t care about anything that can be proven by science and numbers and logic, we have feelings and we need these feelings validated by forcing other people to validate our feelings”.
Not my best eli5
In architecture, the modernist style is very neat and ordered. Lots of symmetry, rectangles, grids, and windows. It’s fairly minimalist without a lot of decoration and uses flat colors like grey and white. Surfaces are large and flat, without depth. It’s meant to feel efficient, and impersonal. Very corporate. They use mostly concrete and glass as materials. Modernist buildings aren’t really meant to be noticed.
Postmodernism is a rejection of modernism, a counter movement. It often features weird angles, rounded pieces, and asymmetry. It uses imagery and differences in depth to make interesting forms. It tries to draw your attention to it, to be looked at and considered. It may feature decorations or bright colors, though it usually avoids especially intricate decorations. Its also more open with materials selection, lots of glass and steel sheeting with less exposed concrete. Sometimes it will even use plants and the like. It might use combinations of aspects from other styles in an almost satirical way. Some examples border on dr Seuss levels of absurdity.
In architecture, the modernist style is very neat and ordered. Lots of symmetry, rectangles, grids, and windows. It’s fairly minimalist without a lot of decoration and uses flat colors like grey and white. Surfaces are large and flat, without depth. It’s meant to feel efficient, and impersonal. Very corporate. They use mostly concrete and glass as materials. Modernist buildings aren’t really meant to be noticed.
Postmodernism is a rejection of modernism, a counter movement. It often features weird angles, rounded pieces, and asymmetry. It uses imagery and differences in depth to make interesting forms. It tries to draw your attention to it, to be looked at and considered. It may feature decorations or bright colors, though it usually avoids especially intricate decorations. Its also more open with materials selection, lots of glass and steel sheeting with less exposed concrete. Sometimes it will even use plants and the like. It might use combinations of aspects from other styles in an almost satirical way. Some examples border on dr Seuss levels of absurdity.
Reductive but effective:
Modernism is *the drawing of a line*: “That was then, this is now”. We’re going to change our society deliberately, and for the better.
Postmodernism is *the questioning of all frame narratives* because language and culture can never fully describe reality—inherent to every system is that there’s something it cannot contain. The notion of “progress” is itself culturally determined and fundamentally inadequate.
Reductive but effective:
Modernism is *the drawing of a line*: “That was then, this is now”. We’re going to change our society deliberately, and for the better.
Postmodernism is *the questioning of all frame narratives* because language and culture can never fully describe reality—inherent to every system is that there’s something it cannot contain. The notion of “progress” is itself culturally determined and fundamentally inadequate.
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