I have always defined "contemporary" art as relative to the time of the
speaker.  For example, anything being produced today (and roughly from the
1960s) is obviously "contemporary," whereas from the point of view of 1850,
Thomas Cole could be termed "contemporary".

Modern art, on the other hand, I see as referring specifically to
"modernism," a movement beginning approximately c. 1905? and existing
concurrent with other artistic production through until, well, somewhere in
the mid-70s where it seems to have withered as both philosophy and product.

I like Stephen's term "post-analog," as applied to some of the newer art
that is coming out, but it seems to imply that creating art "by hand," so to
speak, is passé.  It most certainly is NOT. In my practice I argue that
artists need to feel free to choose whatever form feels right to express
whatever it is they want to express, and if they need to hew things from
massive hunks of stone with a chisel, and it makes sense to the final
product, they shouldn't be sniffed at for doing so. Our job as a viewer is
to decode (hate that word) the meaning in conjunction with the technique,
including any historical references or lack thereof.  When we as curators
assume that artists always are looking out for the next best thing, and when
we are continually rewarding the new to the exclusion of anything else, we
feed the public perception of contemporary art as incomprehensible,
shocking, weird and not at all useful to them.

Julia Moore
Director of Exhibitions and Artist Services
Indianapolis Art Center


-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Stephen Nowlin
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2001 4:08 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "Contemporary Art" cutoff date



But I will risk the hazard of a guess by predicting that the end of
contemporary (along with its persistent echoes of modernism) is upon us
with the advent of the "post-analog" -- not only art which exclusively
embraces new-media or technology, but (perhaps more importantly) art
which, whatever its manner of production, is conceived in response to the
shifting cultural context that is a direct result of new technologies.

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