Presentation Data

Presentation Outline

Speech topic: Contemporary Postmodernism

Purpose: To explore and explain postmodernism as a credible art form; discussing it’s usefulness in the art industry.

I. Introduction:

A. Statement of Topic: Of all the periods in art, the one we are currently in provides the most questionable and least liked of all artwork every produced. Why then are artist still sticking with it? And what does this mean for everyone else?

B. Signpost/Preview

a. Transition: The following three points help to explain why postmodernism is so highly misunderstood, how it effects everyone, and why artists are maintaining their hold on this paradoxical concept.

II. Body:

A. First Main Point: Postmodernism definition

i. Webster: “a late 20^th century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism and has at its heart a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies as well as a problematic relationship with any notion of ‘art’.”

a. Transition: by definition, postmodernism is in a sense the “anti-art” in response to the exploration that took place during the modernist period. The idea that art is everything and everything is art, crosses art into advertisements, the media, and virtually everything that surrounds us.

B. Second Main Point: Postmodernism is the spawn of design

Elements and principle of design discussion & abstraction

i. Interview data from professors as evidence

ii. “Product Placement” – Christopher Townsend

a. Transition: Due to the design elements which fuel postmodernism, traditional visual artists (painters, drawers, sculptors, photographers) gain greater insight and practice into their craft.

C. Third Main Point: Postmodernistic/contemporary practices by artists help them to develop their skills.

i. Personal experience- provide visuals of my work to demonstrate this idea

ii. Interview data from professors as evidence

Transition: With these points in mind, (continue on to conclusion)

III. Conclusion:

[and] in spite of its seemingly paradoxical nature, postmodernism has its advantages and is no doubt leaving its mark upon the world. (summarize previous points and re-explain why this is good for contemporary artists)

My research into this subject is primarily via what I have learned by way of interview from my professors, and the experience that I have personally gained by taking part in the postmodernist era for art. I plan to use these experiences in the speech and provide examples of my own work to help demonstrate how this strange, "non conformist" era is a help to artists in mastering style and aesthetics. I also have quotes from professors and some scholarly information that I plan to use to back up my claims.