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dirt fc This writing was accepted for publication
in the 84 page perfect-bound issue...
Down in the Dirt magazine (v078)
(the January 2010 Issue)




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Post-Postmodernism?

Collin Breaux

    Postmodernism is, arguably, the defining movement of the twentieth and twenty-first century. The other day I was watching this movie called My Big Fat Independent Movie. It was funny but it made me think too. Metafiction and metaart reveal our awareness of clichés and artistic conventions, as well as an analysis of our existences.
    Navel-gazing seems to be a trend in our current age. In our advaced culture, wth monetary and social issues stable (for the most part), we still find a spiritual ennui. We feel empty amidst a comfortable lifestyle. So, we turn to a process of self-analysis to try and discover who we exactly are.
    As well, we seek to discover the methods and reasons behind art. Art is a sense of exploring the human condition, and so we go to its very core. The humorous facet of self-referential works seems to be a way to express dismay and dissatisfaction with hackneyed expressions and stereotypical plots.
    The postmodernist principle of chaotic collage is a reflection of the absurd insanity of contemporary urbanization, as well the over saturation of useless consumer goods...the clutter of Dada comments on the “garbage” within our daily lives.
    I realize the idea presented forth by hyperreality and simulacrums—-that we live in a false age in which we create reality, that the days are so far removed from the real thing that we’re nothing but a copy, an imitation. I would dub this era the era of artificiality. Our fast food is processed in factories. The supermarkets we spend the majority of our time in are white and plain. We are illuminated more by fluorescent light than sunlight. We get our ideas about love from movies. We think we’re supposed to look like the stars on television; never mind that no one truly looks like that or we’ve never even met these people ourselves.
    What surrealism, modernism, and transgressional art reflect is a breakdown of order and clarity instigated by the Industrial Revolution, which brings about an alienated and fragmented view of the world. The seriousness of high-brow art is scrutinized, and even that is rendered dull and pretentious.
    On a more spiritual level, metaficton and other forms of art that consciously realize they’re fiction question the very essence of reality, ala The Matrix, and can be seen as a metaphor for Buddhist or Taoist enlightment. Think about it: most of our socializing takes place in front of a computer screen now, devoid of any real human contact. Technology only further contributes to this depersonalization. Even antiestablishment or antiglobalization ideals spring from others. No Logo and Crass have only reached that point before any of us did, and in fact they influence us in such a realm. No idea is truly original or our own.



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