We have been in PoMo since circa 1979. That is an historic fact. - - TopicsExpress

We have been in PoMo since circa 1979. That is an historic fact. - A FB POST I think that is an Opinion, not a Fact. We were taught the Fact that art history went: Impressionism, Cubism, Nonobjective, Surrealism, Ab Expression, Pop... My Opinion is that it goes: Neoclassicism, Romanticism, Symbolism, Surrealism, Pop... We are not in the postmodern period because every movement you can name after 1979 is a Neo Modernist Style. And it is only about Style. The only thing that can get us out of the Modern Cul-de-sac is a return to Meaning thru shared Symbols. This has not happened yet (Im trying) but that, in my opinion, is what will turn the historical wheel into a true POSTmodernism. Completel false. That is what MAKES it Postmodern. What you are hoping for is philosophically and historically called Anti-Modernism. While I like your desires, please do not take it as an insult but if you want to help support your values you need yo know more history. Youre goals are admirable, but you are using terms idiosyncraticslly and incorrectly and will thus alienate any audience. Read some more, then you can argue more cogently. - A FB POST Do you really believe that if someone sees the world differently from you that they are WRONG? Really? I read all of the stuff (you kindly went to the trouble to gather for me) in the 70s and 80s. Ad nauseam. Didnt everybody? Isnt it boring? After being trained as a painter and art historian I decided to do things I found a lot more interesting than the art world - I studied zen Buddhism, philosophy and cognitive psychology to learn about the brain. And what I learned is that the artistic/religious right side of the brain doesnt like concepts, words, and other means of cutting up the world. For personal reasons I had to take extreme measures to release what was inside of me. (It was me the whole time! Go figure! lol) According to the concept of Ying Yang (those overused pop culture words) the way that you suggest will only work on half the world, just like my way will only work on half the world. (Not literally, but its a simplified illustration.) So the way that worked for me was reading Chuang Tzu, Buddha, Meister Eckhaet, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Einstein. These were the writers that did to my brain what their books said was what an artist needed to do to make his brain function creatively. (What a terrible sentence. Sorry!) So if you enjoy reading the things you suggested, great. But for my mind to function I had to cut off all concepts, definitions and logic to get to the place you got to with your tools. I think both systems can exist side by side and bring results for different kinds of people. I have a web site that explains what I did, how I did it, and why I had to do it. You might enjoy it - its a William Blake style alternative religion called Neoclassical Neosymbolism. And yes, like Blake, words and concepts are used fluidly and idiosyncratically because that is how you get the yogic effect - by destroying all concepts. At least for a while. Its an interesting exercise for the mind. jeffkamberos.wix/jeffkamberos So thats why I say Im postmodern. I leaped over the modern era. Not because I didnt like it, but because it wasnt of any use with my work/personality. And as you said, I dont know what that word means anyway. Does anybody? lol Like the word God. It means something different for each person. THATS the problem with words and concepts!... The sage harmonizes with both right and wrong and rests in Heaven the Equalizer. The sage embraces all things. Ordinary men discriminate among them and parade their discrimination before others. So I say, those who discriminate fail to see. Forget distinctions! Leap into the boundless and make it your home. - Chuang Tzu I drive out my perception and intellect, do away with understanding, and make myself identical with the Tao. To be identical with it, you must have no more likes. - Chuang Tzu circa 350 B.C. One must give value to their existence by behaving as if ones very existence were a work of art. That which is done out of love is always beyond good and evil. - Nietzsche There is another form of religious experience, I shall call it cosmic religious feeling. Individual existence impresses him as a sort of prison and he wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole. In my view, it is the most important function of art and science to awaken this feeling and keep it alive in those who are receptive to it. - Einstein Invention is not the product of logical thought, even though the final product is tied to a logical structure. - Einstein I want to calm people down, put them in a sort of dream state, between Myth and Reality. They just gotta learn to use their intuition. You got to learn to understand rather than overstand your position regarding so-called reality. - Sun Ra The possible has been tried and failed, now I want to try the impossible. - Sun Ra