Cultural and Epistemological Changes as Reflected in Modern Art - Essay Example

Cultural and Epistemological changes as reflected in modern art Introduction The world in recent times has witnessed massive epistemological and cultural changes. These changes have been caused by a variety of factors that range both technical and theoretical aspects. These changes have definitely altered the way we perceive things and how different things are done. One of the vices in which these cultural and epistemological changes can be traced is through modern art. The purpose of this paper is to show how these changes have been reflected in modern art. In the paper, I will concentrate on several areas; background of modern art, specific epistemological and cultural changes, and showing how they have influenced or have been reflected in the modern art scenario. I will also use specific examples to further support my argument. Background of Modern Art Modern art generally refers to the various artistic works that were developed from the period roughly between 1860 and 1970. It denotes the different art philosophies and styles produced in that era. The term modern art is mainly used to show the experimentation spirit that has been incorporated in to art and led to the abandonment of traditional art. This period of experimentation led to the emergence of new ways of doing things and led to the development of fresh ideas on the nature, functions, and value of art. Some of the artists who are considered as pioneers of modern art include famous painters like Paul Cezanne, Georges Seurat, and Vincent Gough. Once again, it must be stressed that the modern art notion has a very close relationship with Modernism in fact. Most of the modern art pioneers were Impressionists, Realists, and Romantics. However, moving towards the 20th century, other movements like Symbolism and post-Impressionism emerged. These also had a huge influence on the modern art concept (Canaday, 2001 p. 25). However, by the late 1970’s, some critics began to question the modern art concept and some even started to treat it with suspicion. This time witnessed huge shifts in art due to the incorporation of vices like technology, for example to create video art. There was even a suggestion that painting as a form of art was ending. This notion was however disapproved in the 1980’s and the following years when painting once again resumed prominence. Some of the aspects that characterize modern art include increased interests in the language and representation of art, photography invention in 1825, new interest in the concept of breaking ideas and objects into pieces, the assembling of little art elements to form a bigger or larger art piece and also looking far beyond things that are considered real (Russell, 2005 p. 81). Relationship between Modern Art, cultural and epistemological changes Modernity can be looked at from four different perspectives. These are capitalism, industrialism, nation state, and information collection and subsequent control. These form the four basic modernity institutions. The analysis of modern art draws a lot of influence from these institutions and the relationship between the two exhibits itself in multidimensional aspects. A research was conducted at art collection of the University of Fort Hare, where an Anthropologist E.J. Jager who had brought together a collection of black South African Art to establish the relationship between modern art, cultural and epistemological changes. The research found that new art practice appropriated or meant a very new socio-cultural formation different from the collective cultural practices for instance, rituals and performances of magic instead of concentration on individual anesthetic contemplation. As it is evident in Africa that evolution in art led to cultural change the same is implicated through out other parts of the world. The modern times according to the research have experience changes in the epistemology of traditional African thought. Change and crisis shows the problematic nature and call for negotiations to integrate traditional and modern minds. The urge is therefore to bring together scholars and traditionally known philosophers for them to share ideas. The spatial change has widened the traditional way of thinking to a wider perspective. This has led to epistemological crisis allowing new methods of learning from one cultural area to another. Therefore, going by the example of African art the kind of liberalism seen in the modern world reduces the collective responsibility to bare theoretical stage. Cultural changes as reflected in modern art. Cultural changes in the society have been a consequence of emotional emancipation of societal members and the adoption of less conservative ways of thinking. The exploration of these changes can prove to be gruesome task but modern art provides a platform through which some of these cultural changes and shifts can be identified. Modern art focused on issues of on three levels, which are; objective, expressive and documentary meanings (Ozenfant, 2006 p.24). The expressive level tries to help the target clientele to understand the author’s and producer’s intended meaning. The modern concepts therefore, change the worldview of the cultural object. In order to understand the meaning of such concepts there is need to do an ideal typical analysis something that was not considered in the past because most art work could easily be understand. Another thing to consider is examination of the whole society by matching the observations through ideal types formed by reading the art. The documentary meanings seek to lead to reveal the identity of contents of artwork. Various pieces of art, which have come to the public realm nowadays, seek to concentrate on definition of male-female roles in the society given the emerging issues of equality. Some of the art works in fact highlight the problems of women in the society. Issues of homosexuality pose a challenge on definition of gender that is the roles of men and women in work, family setting, and attitudes towards specific social institution. Close examination of the current work of art gives a clear theme of women struggling for liberate themselves from the tyranny of a male dominated society. Most paintings, pictures, plays, documentaries and other forms creative can either depict women going through suffering in their own families or them being discriminated by men. There is shift in culture from focusing as the only one’s who are able in terms of leadership to now putting trust in women by even electing women in leadership positions. Over the past, men have always been deemed people who can understand everything and make new discoveries. However, some of these shifts in culture like homosexuality and women independence are starting to become accepted in the society and they have been visibly reflected in modern art. Another good objective of cultural transformation has always been to curb the issue of youth criminal behavior in the community. The various art programs involving youth has proven to change the criminal acts such robbery, drug abuse, terrorism and other negative social acts that the youth engage in whenever they are idle. It requires a collective effort of people to align their cultures to solve the perennial problem of youth causing mayhem because of influence of drugs and negative influence of culture. The modern works of art is bringing partnership between private and public organizations and thereby ensuring that there is an enabling environment for transition from one stage of culture to another. Art has ensured that there is a good rapport either between entrepreneurs or also between government and private institutions. Culture change is something that requires all partners to work collaboratively (Lynton, 2000 p.67) Epistemological changes as reflected in modern art Equality in epistemology is an effort that is undergoing promotion and advocacy by the art industry just to ensure that everyone has the right to make a publication regardless of the status they occupy in the society. One of the most important aspects of the modern art revolution is the development of non-objective or in other words, abstract art. This is a type of art where there is very minimal effort to reproduce objectively the forms or appearances of objects that are in the realms of the existing universe in physical terms. This is a clear reflection of epistemological changes where the knowledge possessed by the people and its subsequent manipulation undergoes alteration significantly (Schapiro, 2010 p. 54). This is part of the larger modern change in art that in many ways embrace a huge variety of theories, attitudes, and movements. Epistemological changes are also visible in the shift of art from traditional styles that are technically driven .This has led to more color experimentation with modern art forms. These colors range from both vibrant and lovely colors together with muted colors that have enabled artists of the modern era to focus on the structure and tone, thus modern art structure has changed significantly. Epistemological changes also reflect themselves in changes in subject matter that is depicted by the art. The subject has shifted from biblical, aristocratic, and classical Renaissance scenes to include surrealism, industrial technologies, and urban scenes. Because of these radical changes and shift in art, new galleries dedicated to the display of this modern art. These galleries collect the modernistic artworks and display for exhibition purposes. There are tendencies of modern art to reject academic, historical, and traditional conventions and forms. The main purpose for doing this is enable the creation of an art that is up to the same levels or is able to keep up with the changes in intellectual, economic, and cultural conditions. Modern artists are constantly using aspects of epistemology to rejuvenate their various art works. This has created a very wide diversity of various pieces of modern art. Conclusion Although changes in culture and epistemology have been some of the factors that have been reflected in art revolution, the role played by technology cannot be overemphasized. Technology has altered how products are developed and the photographic aspect or process has been made more relatively easy. Epistemological changes have also been a consequence of change in technology (Szarkowski, 2009 p. 45). In conclusion, it is relatively safe to say that epistemological and cultural changes in the modern world have been hugely reflected in the revolution of modern art. Art is definitely not the same as it was in the previous historical time. It has witnessed radical shifts, something that is attributable to epistemological and cultural aspects. This has consequently led to more superior pieces of art as compared to those of previous historical eras. Works Cited Canaday, John. Mainstreams of Modern Art. New York: Holt, 2001. Print Russell, John. The Meanings of Modern Art. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2005. Print.  Schapiro, Meyer. Modern Art, 19th & 20th Centuries. New York: G. Braziller, 2010. Print.  Lynton, Norbert. The Story of Modern Art. Ithaca, N.Y: Cornell University Press, 2000. Print.  Ozenfant, Amédée.  Foundations of Modern Art. New York: Dover Publications, 2006. Print.  Szarkowski, John. Looking at Photographs: 100 Pictures from the Collection of the Museum of Modern Art. New York: distributed by New York Graphic Society, Greenwich, Conn, 2009. Print.  Hopkins, David. After Modern Art: 1945-2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print Barr, Alfred H. Masters of Modern Art. New York: Distributed by Simon and Schuster, 2008. Print.  Read More