As I began
reading Habermas’ theory, I was brought back to the one art class I took in
high school. I remember learning about various artistic styles and movements
throughout many different periods of time, and Habermas’ theory of modernism
seemed to resonate with what I seemed to remember. The biggest thing I got out
of the Habermas reading, was a better and deeper understanding of what it means
for something to be modern.
In the beginning
of his writing, Habermas seeks to define the ancients and the moderns. Habermas
explained that the term modern is expressed by the “consciousness of an epoch
that relates itself to the past of antiquity, in order to view itself as the
result of a transition from the old to the new” (Habermas 1981, 98). He further
explains that another ideal, that of the romantic modernist faded and as it
did, “the radicalized consciousness of modernity which freed itself from all
specific historical ties” (Habermas 1981, 99) transformed.
This is when the
two artists I remember, distinctly from my freshman year, come to mind. Both
Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso represent a movement in art known as
abstractionism, specifically cubism. Cubism is said to be the “first abstract
style of modern art” (http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/timelines/modern_art_timeline.htm).
When reading
Habermas’ theory, the idea of the avant-garde in modern art seemed a great explanation
for the artists of this time. Habermas said, “The avant-garde understands
itself as invading unknown territory, exposing itself to the dangers of the
sudden, shocking encounters, conquering an as yet unoccupied future. The
avant-garde must find a direction in a landscape into which no one seems to
have yet ventured” (Habermas 1981, 99). And that is exactly what both Braque
and Picasso were doing.
Pablo Picasso: 'Ambroise Vollard', 1915 (oil on canvas)
As you can see
in both Braque and Picasso’s pieces of art, their use and ideas of cubes created
something strange, new and original. The abstract shapes they used developed
into a new movement, cubism. Cubism both understood and valued the antiquity of
the artwork before theirs, however, through their understanding of previous
abstract values, a new, modern, art form was born.
I don’t think
Habermas could have explained it better, in any other way, than when he wrote, “the
term ‘modern’ again and again expresses the consciousness of an epoch that
relates itself to the past of antiquity, in order to view itself as a result of
the transition from the old to the new” (Habermas 1981, 98).
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