Postmodern Art

Barbara Kruger


Peter Halle



David Salle



Anselm Kiefer

St. Louis' place in History

"The starting point for much of the debate about postmodern issues in the twentieth century has been architecture. It has even been suggested that the transition from the modern to the era of the postmodern can be specified as 3:32 p.m. on 15 July 1972. This is the time when a prize-winning example of modern housing -- the Pruitt-Igoe housing development in St. Louis -- was blown up because it was considered unsuitable for human habitation even by those on a low income. Modern architecture was characterized by the principles of architects such as Le Corbusier who was at his most influential in the 1920s, though his ideas are typified by the high-rise flats which came to dominate our cities in the 1960s." (p.41 - Routledge Companion to Postmodernism)

Why Are We Here?

From the city with over 50 colleges and universities in its city area:

Last night me and some of my friends watched La Dolce Vita. I had heard about it for forever, I had the vague notion that it was about an actress and the paparazzi and the meaninglessness of life or something along those lines. I also knew that Lindsay Lohan had a tatto inspired by it.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what was going on for most of it. I even accidentally watched the introduction by Alexander Payne. I feel like it's one of those pieces of art (I think the Beatles are in this category also, at least for me) where if you take it out of time context, it seems a little unimpressive. But in its time I'm sure it knocked the socks off of everything else on the market.

Julie fell asleep in the recliner, Cassie went to her room in the middle of it, and I zoned in and out, between listening to the massive party upstairs and the English subtitles. Oh well, maybe in a couple years I'll give it another shot.

la dolce vita

Grammar and Poststructuralism

Who knew? While studying postmodernism and the theories of deconstructionalism and poststructuralism, I have found that they both come back to a book on grammar. This is from my Routledge Companion to Postmodernism:

"Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, who revolutionized the study of linguistics in his posthumously published Course in General Linguistics (1916). Saussure's major point about language is that it was above all a system: a system with rules and regulations (or internal grammar) that governed how the various elements of language interacted...The linguistic model set up by Saussure formed the basis of structuralist analysis, which applied it to systems in general, making the assumption that every system had an internal grammar that governed its operations. The point of structuralist analysis was to uncover this grammar...Ultimately, what poststructuralists object to is the overall tidiness of the structuralist enterprise, where there are no loose ends and everything falls neatly into place."

BUT, grammar is not neat and tidy. Things to do not always fall into place. There are always "irregular verbs" and exceptions to every rule. There is no way I am the first one to make this connection. What went wrong?

While I was in Malaysia, we were working with Missionary Kids who had grown up in Japan all of their lives. It was interesting talking fashion with a couple of the girls.

There's a fashion movement called Ganguro where they put intense amounts of white eye makeup all around the eye and accent it with tiny crystal sticky things.




Ganguro Girls

• Also, super-dressy shoes with otherwise normal outfits are cool.

• A store that is iconic of the movement: Alba Rosa (website)

Completely Uncalled For