Modernist Art Form and Post Modernist Art Form - Essay Example

It could be argued that while live action film is a modernist art form, animation is a post modernist art form. Art has long been part of human civilization and with changing social values, its definition also becomes difficult to ascertain. Whereas before art merely referred to paintings and sculptures, today art encompasses a broader range that includes various forms of visual arts such as photography and film and even forms of performing arts such as drama and music. The history of art reflects different periods that conveys the changing views of artists as to what art is all about and how they want to express themselves using it. In the late 1800's, the birth of Modern Art became evident through the initiative of douard Manet and other painters later known as impressionists. Their goal was to express their individuality as artists while criticizing the government. They strove to break free from the rules imposed by academic institutions which were deemed as the sole authority on art. As the industrial age progressed and art evolved to include different types of media, various modern art movements developed and soon it became impossible to find a single trend to the period. Modern art encompassed movements such as cubism, surrealism, dada and pop-art as well as collage and 3D variant assemblage. These latter movements opened the path to the new period of postmodern art. Perhaps the unifying theme of modern artists was their belief that art mattered - that it had real value. Whereas before art was used mainly to convey ideas of powerful religious and political institutions, the period of modern art gave artists more freedom to suggest personal meanings to their art forms. This gave birth to the expression art for art's sake which suggests art without any religious or political intention. Other theorists claim that modern art's defining characteristic is its rebellious and radical nature where artists are constantly trying to redefine the boundaries and limitations of art. As such even daily objects like bicycle wheels and urinals became art objects as deem fit by the artist. However, much as modern art tried to encompass and absorb all the changes brought about by modern technology such as the advent of photography, it still gradually faded out by the 1960's. This was the time when some modern art movements such as pop-art and minimalism slowly developed into what is now known as contemporary or postmodern art. The disillusionment with life's meaning that the effects of World War II brought about, was what made artists lose sight of the value of their art. During this period, artists rejected the idea that life (and art for that matter) has any intrinsic value. For them the world has been filled with reproduction and as such originality and individual expression are no longer valid goals. There is nothing new to create as all visual images are mere copies of previous copies. This emphasis on reproduction has led many artists to master production techniques such that they are able to make art without undergoing the traditional processes of learning perspective, composition, color theory and the other knowledge and skills required by traditional artists. With the emergence of new image-based technologies such as the television and computer, artists were able to manipulate this media and they managed to emerge with something new. Postmodern art also focused on gratifying modern consumer's want of novelty and entertainment and anything that would equally shock them. Thus the period saw the emergence of huge ice-sculptures, islands wrapped in pink polypropylene fabric and a large monolithic block filled with discarded computers as art with the latter even winning the prestigious Turner Prize. Art then has acquired a new meaning where concept takes precedence over aesthetics and craftsmanship becomes secondary. Film or motion pictures are series of images projected into a screen to create the illusion of motion. When these images are flashed in rapid succession, the eye through a phenomenon called persistence of vision perceives these series of still images as a single moving one. With the rise of film in the early 1900's, it became an important art form meant to educate as well as entertain the general public. Films are usually designated as either live-action or animation - and sometimes a combination of both. Live action films involved the use of actual human actors acting in a scene. The term is also applied to the use of puppets in film (that is without stop-motion animation), to human actors acting alongside animated ones, as in the movie Space Jam and to human adaptations of comics such as X-Men and Spiderman as well as adaptations of animated works like the famous cartoons The Flintstones and Scooby Doo. Animation on the other hand are created by recording a series of still images such as drawings that when played back will combine to produce the illusion of unbroken movement thus no longer appearing as individual static images. Animation film gain popularity due to the works of animator Walt Disney who in the early 1920's created the character Mickey Mouse. In those days animation was achieved through traditional animation methods that involved drawing each character's movements into paper then copying it to separate acetates or celluloid that would later on be painted and assembled. Since then, with the advent of new and better technologies, animation has vastly improved. Today there are various forms of animation, the most recent and notable of which is computer animation which can be either 2D as in SpongeBob SquarePants or 3D as in Toy Story. The latter is widely employed for the special effects of most contemporary movies. Seeing that film is a recently developed art with types that transcend two distinct art periods, debates have been made as to these types actual period classification. It has been argued that live-action films are to be classified as modern art while animation films are to be classified as postmodern art. To validate this argument, the characteristics of each film type as well as their underlying principles must be dwelled upon and investigated as to their relation to the proposed art periods. The modern art period which spanned almost a century is highly diverse in terms of aesthetic quality but unified by its underlying principle that there is an intrinsic value to life, and thus to art itself. The common quality of art forms in that period was the fact that these art objects were to be enjoyed as art - with no particular associated meaning whatsoever. The content of most early live-action films usually depicted daily life scenes such as the films by the Lumire brothers which were called actuality films in that they portrayed actual events as opposed to a story told by actors. This attempt to depict actual life using moving images may have the underlying principle that the filmmakers saw value into life and thus see it fit to film life as it happens. The rapidity by which live-action films developed is also reminiscent of the constantly changing movements involved in the modern art period. Modern artists constantly seek new ways to express themselves and as such live-action filmmakers constantly develop means to hone their craft. As such in less than half a century movies developed from 12 minute black and white silent films to full featured, multi-colored audible ones. However, the subject of these live-action films constantly focuses on life and the many things associated with it. The use of live actors as well as real settings also limited the range live-action films can achieve. It is true though that due to massive technological advances such as digital cameras and highly sophisticated computers, it is now possible to combine live actors with digital effects and as such bring live-action movies into a whole new different level. Yet in a strictly technical sense, live-action films that make use of special effects are no longer purely live-action. They are more aptly classified as live-action/animation films as they combine animation with live human actors to achieve their desired end results. A defining characteristic of modern art is that the artist is able to suggest more personal meaning into his works - a characteristic greatly explored in the art of filmmaking. Film makers are best suited to convey to their audiences the meaning they wish to be associated with their films. Independent films, commonly called Indie films, which addresses critical society issues have recently gained popularity. These films are mostly live-action films as their producers have a relatively low budget thus restricting them from adding animation to their works. These restrictions, however, let the viewer appreciate this live-action films for its story and the ingenuity by which the cameras capture the scenes depicted in the film. This could then be considered the art of filmmaking and when the viewers value this art then they are able to appreciate art for art's sake, which is the point of modern art. The case for postmodern art though is different. In postmodernism, it is not the what but the how that is important. In a sense the saying is no longer art for art's sake but rather style for style's sake. In the art of filmmaking, animation provides the filmmaker the freedom to explore his individual style. There is no limit to his creativity since virtually anything is possible with the sophisticated technological inventions available to him. Animation then, though invented during the mid modern art period, rapidly developed during the postmodern period. Animation also allowed artists to explore various worlds and defy natural laws. Through animation, characters are given the chance to perform stunts otherwise impossible with real human actors. However, certain governing principles in animation also place a limit to these artistic freedoms. Walt Disney considered as one of the pioneers of animated film, together with his team of animators formulated via trial and error principles that would make animation realistic. In order for animated films to really capture and entice its viewers it still has to maintain a sense of realism although portraying impossible scenarios. Animation also allowed film makers to achieve effects that are otherwise too costly and impossible in live action films. The possibilities with animation are thus endless. Recent developments have allowed filmmakers to make digital films in which live actors are transformed into digital images and thus are able to act in improbable settings. The postmodern art period is characterized by the way artists have discarded traditional means of making art, instead focusing on the production of art using the readily available new technology. The production of animated films adheres to this characteristic since most animators are able to produce art, even without the traditional training so long as they have the necessary equipments. Another criterion of postmodern art that animation strongly possess is its exploitation of the consumerism and instant gratification ideals of the period's consumers. Art has become a product and a novelty - there is the constant desire to be shocked. Animation met those standards. Japanese anim, otherwise known as Japanimation, has catered to not just the younger generation but also to the older ones due to the diverse subjects it tackles. The plots, genre and characters are constantly evolving and almost any type of setting or character is depicted in anim. In Western production studios, 3D animation constitutes the novelty as evidenced by popular hits such as Toy Story, Shrek and The Incredibles. The public's hunger for movies heavily laden with special effects such as Transformers and Star Wars, further adds to the novelty of animated films. Perhaps the best arguments for animation to be classified as a postmodern art is that it is a constantly developing art in the era of postmodernism and since modern art no longer exist but animation does, then where would animation be classified The classification of art into different periods is a tedious task. It is true that art periods have distinctive qualities but with the changing views of society, as well as their different attitudes towards art, the lines between a period where one art belongs to as oppose to another one becomes blurred. This is especially true for live-action films and animations. Film is a very recent art form that is constantly evolving. Although it is true that some films can be readily classified into a given art form, a general classification proves to be rather difficult. Early animated films such as the likes of Mickey Mouse can fall into the modern art category, mainly because they were made in that period, and secondly because they were made to be appreciated as art for art's sake with all the limitations and inattentiveness to style. But as technology further developed and allowed further experimentation with animation, and also with the eventual introduction of postmodernism, animation began exhibiting variations in style and began catering to the novelty consumers craved for, thus placing it firmly in the category of postmodern art. The same difficulty in classification is observed for live-action films, which with the limitations presented to it by the lack of animations, allows it to be appreciated as an art in its raw form and thus be classified as a modern art. Its conformity to novelty in terms of plot and characterization, however, may place it in the postmodern art category. The debates and arguments surrounding the classification of art forms may range on and on but for filmmakers and other artists, so long as they get to do their craft, entertain people with it and freely explore other avenues of self-expression, these debates over the classification of their works won't matter at all. In fact they may even create more art forms that would further give rise to more debates. After all, art is all about the freedom to express one's own style in one's own way. References: Barnes, B. 2007. Art. Microsoft Student 2008 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Bishko, L. 2007. 'The Uses and Abuses of Cartoon Style in Animation', Animation Studies.Vol. 2, pp. 24-35. Cernuschi, C. 2007. Modern Art. Microsoft Student 2008 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Furniss, M. 2007. Animation. Microsoft Student 2008 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Grundberg, A. 2007. History of Photography. Microsoft Student 2008 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Marr, M. 2004. 'Trying to Capture Magic on Film; For Big-Budget 'Polar Express,' Will High-Tech Imagery Pay Off In Gamble on Simple Kids' Tale', Wall Street Journal. 22 Oct., p. A6 Modern Art: History, Movements/Periods, Styles, Artists: Modernist Visual Arts (1860 to mid-1960s) from Impressionism to Pop-Art. 2008. Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art. [Online] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/modern-art.htm. Retrieved on: January 13, 2009. Price, S. 2001. 'Cartoons from another planet: Japanese animation as cross-cultural communication', Journal of American and Comparative Cultures. Vol. 24, Iss. 1/2, pg. 153, 17 pgs. Postmodernism: Definition, Meaning and History Guide to Post-Modern Styles, Schools and Movements of Visual Arts: 1960s-Present. 2008. Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art. [Online] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/postmodernism.htm. Retrieved on: January 13, 2009. Sklar, R. 2007. History of Motion Pictures. Microsoft Student 2008 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Tanis, N. 2007. Motion Picture. Microsoft Student 2008 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Read More