Asher.p2.t1.Post Modern Synthesis

Asher.p2.t1.Post Modern Synthesis


by Calvin Chan, Brianna Loo, Jane Lu, and Christina Yang 

Sigmund Freud was psychological analyst of the post-modern era who studied the science and workings of the mind. Specifically, he dealt with the subconscious; he defined the ego and the superego. Through his work, Freud simplified subconscious influence of human behavior into three categorical “mindsets”.

Freud’s work led many people of the post-modern era to explore and seek understanding of the mechanics of the mind, perhaps in ways that were too quixotically realistic. James Pollack was an artist who created paintings that literally fostered entropy in the seemingly random paint splashes on his canvases. However, these paintings were representative of Pollack’s inner frustrations; he suffered from mental illness and art was his form of self-relief and therapy. Andy Warhol was a visual artist who took common objects and transformed them into representative new figures. Warhol added an unorthodox to orthodox views. Freud’s views transcended through Warhol’s art. Traumatic and life-changing experiences are often times relieved through the minds of people as a source of comfort. Warhol aimed to capture terrifying images of hell and the afterlife, relating not only the reality of an experience, but the thought process that trails after it.

Post-Modern Era Synthesis Question

Sigmund Freud was a famous psychiatrist from Vienna, Austria. He was highly influential upon the artwork of Pollack and Warhol because of his studies with the brain and what people are capable of understanding and feeling through aesthetic material, such as art. Freud’s ideas of further exploring the mind proved that mankind is capable of understanding physical art forms, especially if they are colorful. Modern art, in the modern era, believed fragmentation in art was something of a tragedy; however, in the postmodern era, fragmentation was widely celebrated. Postmodern art was meant to provide meaning in areas of life in which nothing else can fulfill the empty regions of human life.  Pollock was influenced by Freud’s highly intelligent studies on the brain and psyche of man; Pollock was an alcoholic and received treatment known as Jungian influence, which allowed him to open up about his addiction and make room for more aesthetically pleasing elements in life such as art. Freud created the Jungian influence, thus providing Pollock with an alley to fame and creativity. Warhol was a popular “pop culture” artist, using bright colors and vivid images of celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe, to convey the essence and elegance of people of his time. Freud had some influence upon Warhol’s work, but some claim it was the artists who in turn influenced Freud and his ideas on the mind’s process on unconscious relevance when it comes to creativity.

Wylie, Period 1, Team 2, Sara Patterson, Helen Lee, Tori Kause 

Post Modern Synthesis

          Sigmund Freud was a defining figure of the Post-Modern Era, and his most basic ideas heavily influenced the arts, including the artwork of Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol. Freud revolutionized the idea that emotion and reason are not two separate entities but two interrelated, interdependent parts of our psyche, and he used reasoning and (psycho)analysis to unearth others’ emotions. Likewise Freud supported the idea of art that utilizes the subconscious – of the tangible serving as a link to and a siphon of the intangible thoughts and feelings of the subconscious. It is with this attitude that Jackson Pollock, famed abstract expressionist best known for his “drip painting” style, created his art, which resembles seemingly haphazard splatters, splotches, and drops of paint on canvas. This “action painting” and movement within the painting mirrored his oft-volatile personality, and in this way tapped deep within his subconscious to create something that is natural, spontaneous, and unlike any art that has ever been called “art.” This was almost like painting his dreams while awake, and can also be seen as constant, purposeful (and nonsexual) Freudian slips on canvas. By focusing on his emotions, Pollock was, according to Freud, also making rational, and therefore acceptable, art. Andy Warhol, innovator of pop art and revolutionary in his definition of “art” as simply a visual representation, played off the other side of Freudian thought – namely, logic and rationalism. Warhol did not believe in “fine art” – he believed that all art is worthy of being called art, and he actually valued the commercialism and reproductability of his works. He expressed himself, in the sense that he painted the subjects he personally liked and in the specific way that he chose to, but his creations can also be seen as mechanical and without much interpretation, yet still worthy of the title “art.”

Tiffany Chen

Melody Sue

Lucy Zhao

Wylie, Per. 5, Team 2

Forgot to post this online! Whoops!

Wylie Period 6, Team 2 Modern Era Synthesis!

How did young artists during this time artistically influence one another?

Sigmund Freud’s artistic ideals and studies were both groundbreaking towards the general public, as well as influential to many other emerging artists of this time. Freud’s applications of “psychoanalyzing” gave many artists the idea that the human mind is capable of being infinitely faceted; mankind alike obviously view the world from different perspectives. A Poster-Modern star like Freud sparked many young minds, probing emerging artists to really utilize his studies of the human brain and it incorporate it into their art masterpieces.

Andy Warhol was another controversial artist of this time whose art was obviously influenced by Sigmund Freud’s ideals and morals. Warhol’s art was considered controversial because it often reflected Freud’s theories on human sexuality- Warhol’s movies expressed human repression and often depicted sexual encounters with those of both the opposite and same sex. Depiction of homosexuals and scandalous, drug-filled lives of our youth pushed the limits of social acceptance during this time. Thus, Warhol’s work wasn’t immediately accepted or embraced by society. Nonetheless, Warhol fearlessly explored the depths of the unconscious desires of the human mind, intimidating a good portion of viewers, yet forever inspiring latter generations to come.

Jack Pollack incorporated many of Freud’s ideas based solely on the human mind alone into his famous drip paintings-utilizing the idea that there is simply not one “appropriate” perspective when it came down to creating art. Rather than his paintings meaning to be representational or symbolic, Pollack greatly encouraged viewers to interpret his work freely and to “feel” the art. And although some critics had often referred to his paintings as “unorganized” or “random,” Pollack’s work was actually an unconscious effort to express his own personal issues of anxiety and anger with alcoholism. His drip paintings, ironically, due symbolize something-the complexities and indeed, the craziness of the human mind.

By following their own subconscious, these artists truly brightened the times of this era with their colorful yet one of a kind masterpieces and ideals.

♥,

Christine Ching

Erica Trinh

Eryn Bollin

Alexander Prescott

Kellyna Fox

Wylie Period 5 Team 9 Post - Modern Synthesis

Audrey Ford
Nicki Quiles
Gus Shettleroe

Post – Modern Synthesis Question

Warhol and Pollack were some of the most influential yet controversial artists of the post- modern era. They revolutionized the way people looked at art and even created their own form of it, Pop Art. Even though Warhol and Pollack revolutionized art, they were influenced by Sigmund Freud. Freud was a renowned neurologist; he introduced the theory of psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind. Freud created a revolutionary therapeutic technique called "free association." This technique required patients to report their thoughts without reservation and make no attempt to concentrate while doing so. This practice caught the eyes of Warhol many years later. Warhol and Pollack incorporated Freud's theory in the majority of their work. Warhol's paintings were often controversial because he painted homosexual males, at the time; this was a taboo and looked down upon. Warhol took Freud's idea of Free Association and incorporated it in his work, aiming to please no one but himself.

Post Modern Synthesis Question

Post Modernism, from the 1960s-1990s, was a reaction to the previous era, Modernism. A key characteristic apparent in both Modernism and Post-Modernism is the idea that all kinds of art form, from very sophisticated to seemingly simplistic, are all at the same level. Themes that were depicted in the art during these two eras were irony and playfulness. The reason for many of the similarities in the two eras was the influence one particular man had that carried over to other artists, a man named Lucian Freud. Freud was well known for his representative style of artwork. He was also able to create masterpieces without the aid of any drugs or narcotics. Pollack and Warhol noticed Freud’s success and in the Post-Modernism era were greatly influenced by his works.

Freud developed the notion of doing work in the style of surrealism. This style of work opened up a whole new world for future artists to explore. It encompassed free association and the exploration of the dream world. Freud had such a large influence on Pollack and Warhol because they noticed his new style of artwork and desired to further explore his ways. Pollack for example, took Freud’s creative way of painting – by standing up – and developed this to create his unique style, called action painting. Warhol on the other hand was influenced by Freud’s style of focusing primarily on the image he was painting, making it a perfect representation of the idea he wanted to convey, and spent little time on background. Warhol took this and applied it to printmaking and imagery. Overall, Freud influenced many artists in the Post-Modern era by the meanings of their paintings and their style of painting

Team 4 Period 1 Wylie

Claire West, Danny Shapiro, Ivy Arbolado, Edward Tyler, Helena Cassily

Post-Modern Synthesis wyl.p6.t7

Sigmund Freud symbolizes the merging of the intangible with the perceptible – an indirect merging of reason with imagination. This is unique, as in all previous eras there was a clash, rather than a unity, of these two ideals—science vs. religion. Freud instigated a new field of thought and ideas that were based on reason, but also elicited deep instinctive passion (often associated with sexuality). These ideals translated into a “counterculture” movement, as the merging of emotion with reason was, in a sense, backward from the earlier distinctions between emotion and reason.

Comparing these characteristics to art is simple, as this subjective reality was simply plastered onto large canvases as art. Andy Warhol’s block print paintings depicted an immediately harsh and profound merging of many contrasting colors that reflected the merging perspectives and ideals in this new age. It was fearless, and subjected the onlooker to a deep turmoil of passion and understanding that became personalized, since each person perceived a different perspective submerged in the ocean of color and blockage. Jackson Pollock was another leader in this era, a pioneer of abstract painting displaying ranges of dark colors in his drip paintings. The fast and undefined era of stark individualism were causes of the underlying passion and emotion in these nonuniform paintings. Differences and individuality were celebrated, unlike previous eras. There was an uproar of spirituality and science, as they fused together to create this beautiful thing that was in a state between intangibility and tangibility. This was reflected in Pollock’s and Warhol’s art, a transition to the more liberal modern era. Though the clash between religion and science was present, and still continues, there is a greater distinction in certain areas (like democratic politics in this country) and an unclear convolution in other areas (like biology and evolution).