Fools.pptx

The cruelest irony about postmodernists is that they mistake critique for correction and subversion for a constructive act. As far as I’m concerned, the consequences for the world of art have been disastrous. 

In this series, I seek to leverage postmodern strategies against themselves. Everything, from the images to the form of the works themselves, has been appropriated. The first work, “Your ‘art’ affronts my gaze,” establishes the visual reference to Barbara Kruger and her famous “Your gaze hits the side of my face.” The image accompanying the text is taken from the visceral opening sequence of Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali’s 1929 film, “Un Chien Andalou.” Just a few frames later, Buñuel cuts the eye of the woman open with a razor blade in a literal representation of his intent to violate the viewer’s eyes and sentiments with the work.

In Edvard Munch’s The Scream, we see the brutal nihilism and pessimism of postmodernism disturbingly expressed in the unnerving swirls of paint using a palette redolent of death and decay. Liz Deschene’s Red Dye Transfer Diptych (2003) represents the complete defeat of visual interest as a basic feature of museum-worthy art. Even where the images and their makers predate postmodernism, they still reflect its ethos. A disbelief in unified meaning or objective truth in favor of fragmentation and infinite subjectivity. A deep pessimism and nihilism. Erasure and subversion. Irony and sarcasm. An explicit refusal to pursue realistic representation or aesthetic beauty.

At times, the pairing of text and image are direct and explicit. Elsewhere, in true postmodernist spirit, the work proceeds with deep irony and the shameless leveraging of transgressive images to further the artistic concept. 

And it has all been done in Microsoft Powerpoint. 

After all, I don’t think what I’ve created is art. Because art should aspire higher than simply making a point.