I can remember being unfavorably impressed with the explanations
of postmodern aesthetics in the early 1980s. I took it upon myself
to revise and develop my own postgraduate Jungian-influenced views
on art. Over the next few years I worked my way through the flood
of art theory publications available at the time, taking notes
and referencing my ideas to the aesthetic dialogue. The notes
were taken as a way for me to develop as an artist. Once completed
I put them aside. In 1995, they were roughly edited and placed
on line at the Westland web site. I was surprised and pleased
at the response. In 2004 the essays underwent a second edit and
are now offered here on my web site for your consideration.
The collection of essays and paragraphs begins with
an explanation of Modernism as it establishes the precedents for
postmodernism and the Art on the Rebound thesis. Next,
postmodernism is characterized as the apogee of Modernism and
the dead-end aesthetic responsible for freeing art from the erroneous
assumptions of Occidental philosophy. The shift in metaphysics
that occurs at the end of Modernism has a broader base of influences
than can be explained with art theory. The ontological ground
of Western culture had been eroded for decades by consumerism,
commercial duplicity and by the effects of mass media, television
in particular. These issues are addressed in the essays.
Art on the Rebound examines the roles of art
and other active cultural mythologies in postmodern society.
In the Rebound thesis, art has power as the actualizing
force of cultural mythology. The initiating premise: the motivation
for art presupposes the ideology that structures art into society.
It is born of an individuation process and in the aftermath of
Modernism will give rise to a renaissance in Western culture.
At a time when most of our cultural venues have been coopted
by capitalism and serve elitist ideals, egalitarian public art
generates cultural values at the leading edge of a new aesthetic
in art. This realization allowed me to move beyond the fragmented
ideology of Modernism without falling prey to the nihilism of
postmodern aesthetics. In this latest edition I have included
additional essays and links to reproductions of art.
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