Timeline of Art History and its reasons
Focus on the reasons as to why you think the order of art history unfolded in a way you put them in order in the most logical way possible. This exercise is to help you rethink about the paradigm shift of art we discussed in class today.
I put these artworks in this order mainly because of the technological advancements throughout art history. At first, people focused on making the ideal form, reproducing what they see in nature. They progressively developed in techniques and forms to create their versions of the perfect representation of nature, which ancient Greeks mastered. Moving on to the Renaissance, more and more technologies were invented to increase the accuracy of artworks. With scientific thinking, artists began to create works systematically with perspectives and proportions. The invention of photography and cinematography during the Industrial Revolution put an end to the pursuit of perfect representation. After that, innovations in techniques became the main push for artistic inventions. Driven by various social and political agendas, modernist artists started to experiment with innovative thinkings to challenge the conservative notion of art. These artworks often consist of abstraction and distortion. Then, artists began to explore different ways to utilize and humanize technology, which gave birth to digital and multimedia artworks.
Reading I : Systems Esthetics by Jack Burnham
Explain what Burnham means by systems-oriented culture. How is Systems Esthetics (the title of the article) defined by Burnham? How did systems-oriented culture influence art? Provide examples. Consider the lecture on paradigm shift when answering.
In a system-oriented culture, technological shifts change the way we view and define art. Instead of ideology, technology allows us to focus on the expression of information through the context of systems, which encompass all living situations, activities, and environments. According to Burham, a system “may contain people, ideas, messages, atmospheric conditions, power sources, and so on,” which “comprised of material, energy, and information in various degrees of organization.” Systems Esthetics consider any form of information conveyed. It is free from any visual syntax, and “is revealed in the principles underlying the progressive reorganization of the natural environment.”
In terms of art, a system should also be viewed wholly, in which each fragment, unit, or individual object serves little significance. Objects merge with the environment to a point that the entire environment becomes the art. In a system-oriented culture, art has no boundary, no limit, no fixed rules, and no visual concerns. The output or result of art is equally important to the process and techniques. Art no longer resides in material entities, but in human performance, interaction, experience, and relationships with the environment.
In the advanced technological culture, successful artists prioritize their relations with society. Just like what we learned in the lecture, during modernism, the art object is dethroned. Artistic nihilism refuses to participate in the idealism of craft, which set the basis for modern formalism. Modernist artists like Duchamp and Warhol are good examples of that. Artistic techniques and technological thinking become an integral part of the artistic process. Artists begin to explore ways to humanize technology. For example, there are multimedia artworks, responsive art installations, kinetic art, light art, and so on.