The thing I can’t get on board with is the idea that technological innovation will induce post-humanity. That’s a big-city conceit. Looking at your website, I’m mindful of Atomized, by Houllebecq, which I presume you’ve read. I don’t buy any of that; I think it’s a representation of the historical sublimation of progress and technology conflated with the theory of evolution in the hyper time frame of contemporary culture. Evangelicals have the Rapture, to which ‘post-humanity’ is the other side of the ideological, apocalyptic coin.

The thing I can’t get on board with is the idea that technological innovation will induce post-humanity. That’s a big-city conceit. Looking at your website, I’m mindful of Atomized, by Houllebecq, which I presume you’ve read. I don’t buy any of that; I think it’s a representation of the historical sublimation of progress and technology conflated with the theory of evolution in the hyper time frame of contemporary culture. Evangelicals have the Rapture, to which ‘post-humanity’ is the other side of the ideological, apocalyptic coin.

The thing I can’t get on board with is the idea that technological innovation will induce post-humanity. That’s a big-city conceit. Looking at your website, I’m mindful of Atomized, by Houllebecq, which I presume you’ve read. I don’t buy any of that; I think it’s a representation of the historical sublimation of progress and technology conflated with the theory of evolution in the hyper time frame of contemporary culture. Evangelicals have the Rapture, to which ‘post-humanity’ is the other side of the ideological, apocalyptic coin.

I do not think that trend just all of a sudden stopped in the 70′s. I do think that minimalism, fluxus, early conceptualism do mark the end of some sort of ‘ephemeralization’ process in art.
I agree with you about the problem with many contemporary artists boring self-reflectivity. But, just ignore it and move on. Nobody expects somebody to appreciate every genre of music. And likewise, there is no need for a singular story line in art..
All I’m saying is, Unless we cause a global catastrophe, (or just fail) we our steadily progressing towards the establishment of a global consciousness. we are on the verge of post-humanity, and soon, personal-identity-art is going to seem very very quaint.

I do not think that trend just all of a sudden stopped in the 70′s. I do think that minimalism, fluxus, early conceptualism do mark the end of some sort of ‘ephemeralization’ process in art.
I agree with you about the problem with many contemporary artists boring self-reflectivity. But, just ignore it and move on. Nobody expects somebody to appreciate every genre of music. And likewise, there is no need for a singular story line in art..
All I’m saying is, Unless we cause a global catastrophe, (or just fail) we our steadily progressing towards the establishment of a global consciousness. we are on the verge of post-humanity, and soon, personal-identity-art is going to seem very very quaint.

I do not think that trend just all of a sudden stopped in the 70′s. I do think that minimalism, fluxus, early conceptualism do mark the end of some sort of ‘ephemeralization’ process in art.
I agree with you about the problem with many contemporary artists boring self-reflectivity. But, just ignore it and move on. Nobody expects somebody to appreciate every genre of music. And likewise, there is no need for a singular story line in art..
All I’m saying is, Unless we cause a global catastrophe, (or just fail) we our steadily progressing towards the establishment of a global consciousness. we are on the verge of post-humanity, and soon, personal-identity-art is going to seem very very quaint.

Your point about Andy Warhol is worth considering. The difference, I would say, is the formal, material decisions he made that had an effacing effect on individuality. Hard to parse at the moment, but I don’t think Warhol’s take on fame aligns with what I’m thinking of. Maybe, Warhol’s subject was fame/celebrity*, but contemporary artists’ subjects are too often, at bottom, themselves. There was a subversive edge to Warhol’s project that may be lacking today.
But hey I’m an artist, not an historian…
But I think I’m with it.

*this is an oversimplification

Your point about Andy Warhol is worth considering. The difference, I would say, is the formal, material decisions he made that had an effacing effect on individuality. Hard to parse at the moment, but I don’t think Warhol’s take on fame aligns with what I’m thinking of. Maybe, Warhol’s subject was fame/celebrity*, but contemporary artists’ subjects are too often, at bottom, themselves. There was a subversive edge to Warhol’s project that may be lacking today.
But hey I’m an artist, not an historian…
But I think I’m with it.

*this is an oversimplification

Your point about Andy Warhol is worth considering. The difference, I would say, is the formal, material decisions he made that had an effacing effect on individuality. Hard to parse at the moment, but I don’t think Warhol’s take on fame aligns with what I’m thinking of. Maybe, Warhol’s subject was fame/celebrity*, but contemporary artists’ subjects are too often, at bottom, themselves. There was a subversive edge to Warhol’s project that may be lacking today.
But hey I’m an artist, not an historian…
But I think I’m with it.

*this is an oversimplification

how is the forward march of the new backwards??? Did technological development stop during the postmodern era?

At this point, cultural ‘progress’ is a result of technological innovation. This trend is only accelerating, and I think it is contemporary artists’ responsibility to address this accelerating change, while linking the ‘new’ to its historical antecedents …

Fluxus needed to exist in order to completely break down the barriers of what could be considered art.
Thats not an endpoint, but it is the current bedrock for artistic production.

Personality/Celebrity was a result of monocultural mass communication. This was new for Warhol, so I think your observation is about ummm… 40 years out of date.

The new ‘new’ is about customization, alteration, niche communities, virtual reality, telepathic communication, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, etc.

Modernism continues, get with it.