Lori Nix and the Post-Modern Condition: Control Room and The Church
Introduction
Post-modernity offers a new perspective and a paradigm shift in art production as well as art consumption. First theorised as the culture industry, the mechanisation of art production has been a subject of contemporary scholarships, questioning the value of authenticity. Post-modernism accelerates the production of images, creating a type of apocalypse of images which no longer bear any relation to reality itself, a type of hyperreality, where the idea of an original object becomes obsolete. The world is a simulation of itself, and signs present themselves endlessly as copies of copies of copies.
Lori Nix (born 1969) is an American 'faux landscape photographer'
…show more content…
Thus, art itself has become a part of this machinery, and its autonomy, or 'aura', has vanished, or has been replaced by cultural goods and commodified objects (Massumi, 2008). Mass culture creates art with particular ideological character, in direct contrast to the 'art for art's sake' movement, and an original freedom of art.
Hence, culture industry is a mass culture with political implications, based on capitalism, the market economy, and a proliferation of low art, with little authenticity within itself, forcing masses into passivity and overt consumerism. Consequently, it embraces 'the compulsive character of a society alienated from itself' (Adorno and Horkheimer, 2002, p.95). This ideological state of affairs draws on individuals' false needs and implanted desires, and removes authenticity from culture, only preserving factory products and symbols of sameness. Such a propaganda does not go unnoticed. However, those who attempt to react or resist 'can survive only by being incorporates' (Adorno and Horkheimer, 2002, p.104). Below, the text will postulate whether Lori Nix is a part of this machinery, or whether she comments on it in a detached
…show more content…
She captures images within images, and, through photographic lenses, she re-contextualises how the world is viewed. According to Sonntag (1977), in the contemporary world, 'the powers of photography have in effect de-Platonized our understanding of reality, making it less and less plausible to reflect upon our existence according to the distinction between images and things (…) turning the tables of reality (…) into a shadow' (p.142). In regard to Nix, she goes even further, by distorting the very idea of what is being photographed. Her miniature dioramas function as simulacra; shrunk models as a type mimicking the way in which contemporary information is easily shrunk and copied. Since, as Steward (2005) points out, the very same notion presented in the miniature world can be seen in the cultural world, her method of creating photographic images of existing dioramas is a code of a code. It does not need a reference point to
In Highbrow, Lowbrow, Levine argues that a distinction between high and low culture that did not exist in the first half of the 19th century emerged by the turn of the century and solidified during the 20th century, and that despite a move in the last few decades toward a more ecumenical interpretation of “culture,” the distinction between high art and popular entertainment and the revering of a canon of sacred, inalterable cultural works persists. In the prologue Levine states that one of his central arguments is that concepts of cultural boundaries have changed over the period he treats. Throughout Highbrow, Lowbrow, Levine defines culture as a process rather than a fixed entity, and as a product of interactions between the past and the present.
The earliest forms of art had made it’s mark in history for being an influential and unique representation of various cultures and religions as well as playing a fundamental role in society. However, with the new era of postmodernism, art slowly deviated away from both the religious context it was originally created in, and apart from serving as a ritual function. Walter Benjamin, a German literary critic and philosopher during the 1900’s, strongly believed that the mass production of pieces has freed art from the boundaries of tradition, “For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependance on ritual” (Benjamin 1992). This particular excerpt has a direct correlation with the work of Andy Warhol, specifically “Silver Liz as Cleopatra.” Andy Warhol’s rendition of Elizabeth Taylor are prime examples of the shift in art history that Benjamin refers to as the value of this particular piece is based upon its mass production, and appropriation of iconic images and people.
She has been giving her expertise in the form of photography and the art of installation and multi-media for fourteen years now, and she doesn’t plan on giving it up anytime soon. As Skoglund began to see that the sky was the limit, along with teaching, she decided to experiment with illustration and commercial images. The advancement in these areas had been a lifelong dream. Merely overnight, Skoglund’s career blossomed and her sole purpose in all of this was to make people see and feel her brilliant expression in a way that they could easily relate to. Over the years Ms. Skoglund has created an art that seems to bash modern day reality as we know it.
I must say that I learned a lot from this class both through the readings and through class discussion. I really, honestly do not have anything that I starkly disagreed with in either. I found it all to be very valuable information for me and this class was extremely helpful in assisting me to better understand the current paradigm shift the church is going through. There are three take-a-ways in particular that helped me to better understand the post modern shift in the church and my role as a minister in this changing paradigm. The first take-a-way is the understanding that there is a shift occurring towards focusing more on the congregational life of the church with more attention on the laity and its formation. Second, is how to plan, as a church and as pastors, to adjust to this shift towards congregational life and how to be better prepared as a postmodern church to be relevant in this changing time. Lastly, I received a better way of explaining the meaning of what truth is in this post modern time.
In this paper I aim to analyze Becker's and Moretti's approaches when they make sociological studies of art. Their approaches have in fact opposite characteristics. Becker is more interested in the creation of the art works that are created in different art worlds. Becker's approach is related to the supply side of the art worlds. He analyzes the networks, ties and relationships that helps or directly contributes to the art works. However, Moretti's approach is quantitative and he analyzes how the consumers of the art works affect the created works. Those fluctuations of the demand affect the styles, genres and so on. He says that quantitative data helps us to analyze the forces that drives the art works to change. However, if I were to start
RESUMEN: Adorno and Horkheimer adopted the notion of the fetishism of commodities for the analysis of art and culture. Material, physical goods are not identical with symbolic ones. In spite of being predominant, the culture industry cannot be taken as the prototype for all analyses of culture. One cannot reduce all cultural products in the market economy to market products. The plurality of artistic and cultural practices found in countries such as Brazil calls into question the Frankfurtian framework.
From the creation of art to its modern understanding, artists have strived to perform and perfect a photo realistic painting with the use of complex lines, blend of colors, and captivating subjects. This is not the case anymore due to the invention of the camera in 1827, since it will always be the ultimate form of realism. Due to this, artists had the opportunities to branch away from the classical formation of realism, and venture into new forms such as what is known today as modern art. In the examination of two well known artists, Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock, we can see that the artist doesn’t only intend for the painting to be just a painting, but more of a form of telling a scene through challenging thoughts, and expressing of the artists emotion in their creation.
To understand Smith’s essay, Smith feels it is important to be aware of her use of the word Ideology. For her the word has two different meanings “to mean not only a conscious system of meaning, e...
...p from the world they live in, a world of separation and indicate themselves with their own realities. Art is handed over into society’s hands, as in one movement it is suggested - to fixate what is real, live like you create and create like you live; in other – abandon media’s proposed ideas and take the leadership of life in our own hands.
Horkheimer and Adorno’s The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception and Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction are two texts that to depict how technology, the modes of production, have allowed the mechanical reproduction of works of art to change our culture society. Horkheimer and Adorno evolve from the works of Benjamin to to create the idea of the business ideology being formed from this mass production and consumption. The mode of production that shaped the art and culture of the twentieth century is mechanical reproduction. Horkheimer, Adorno and Benjamin write about how this mode of production shapes the cultural identity of society.
Theodore Adorno and Max Horkheimer were two renowned Jewish representatives of the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory; they were particularly dominant during the early 20th century, approximately around the time of the 1920’s to 1960s. They took refuge in America after Adolf Hitler’s rise in Germany. These to philosophers developed the ‘Culture Industry Theory’ in the 1940s, in light of the disturbed society they had seen during this time. They witnessed how Nazi Fascism used mass media such as films, radio and newspapers to brainwash millions into partaking in this ideology. Similarly they saw the rise of Capitalism in America, which also used mass media such as Hollywood films and advertising to disseminate the masses into the capitalist Ideology. This essay will evaluate how the ‘culture industry’ had profound social impacts in society and examine weather it is valid in contemporary society.
It is increasingly clear that media and culture today are of central importance to the maintenance and reproduction of contemporary societies. Cultures expose society to different personalities, provide models, which display various forms of societal life and cultivate various ways to introduce people into dominant forms of thought and action. These are the types of activities integrate people into society and create our public sphere. Media and technology surround our society; engrained into the fabric of our existence so much so, that it has become hard to find an aspect of life not influenced by its effects. For this reason, media controllers, wield extreme power and influence over the lives of everyday people. Although, they increasingly continue to feed the audience trash, despite their authority as the creator of our social/cultural interactions, and justify their actions by calling themselves industries. Reducing themselves to just businesses whose sole purpose is to create a profit. This admittance of what they feel to be their true purpose however does not hinder their control and power but instead adds to it. Creating a need for there to be some way to analyze and discuss whether they are using their position and power wisely. Filling this void, scholars have theorized ways for individuals to be critical of the media that they intake. One of these critical theories is the “Culture Industry” theory. Using Cultural Theory, as well as other complementary neo Marxist theories, it is possible to determine how Stacy Peralta, once urban youth culture advocate, became incorporated into the superstructure through media use, thus making him a tool for the continued commoditization of society, and a youth marketer for industries l...
In her writing female identity is a product of the ideological history that surrounds it, she describes female subjectivity in terms of fragmentation, displacement,...
Women desire to become beautiful and powerful, even if they don’t say it in words. And the Photographer plays with that concept and creates that desire, that you can become that person you see in the photograph. And live that lifestyle. Photographers use techniques from the cinema/cinematic, to create the desire of viewers/Buyer/Consumers. The cinematic techniques made it possible the way people lived and the...
As society becomes more engrossed in the capitalist side of the culture industry, the use value is taken over the exchange value of the particular item. People can become isolated within society and unable to make successful decisions for themselves. Through standardization of production, distribution and sales, people are treated as a commodity. People begin to lose the aesthetic appeal of cultural events and people become consumed by the fact their attendance to an event gives them status. Adorno and Horkheimer successfully show what will happen to society if the culture industry takeover of mass media continues.