| The recontextualist
movement grew in reaction to the cultural changes in recent times.
Firstly, the amount of information, opinion, art and iconography
available as a result advances in visual, audio, communication and
information technology Secondly the dominance of the electicist
strand of post-modernism on contemporary creative culture.
Recontextualism began as a simple
idea based on rejection of using a palette of past iconography in
favour of brand new ideas. Information, images and other creative
work is so readily available to contemporary society that there
is an inevitable leaning towards the reprocessing of old art, and
vicarious opinion and experience. There are two ways achieving the
aims of the movement: one is by closing oneself off from the possibilities
provided by new technology The second is engagement with live and
instantaneous media.
It is the personal experience of live
media that allows the artist to see and experience something for
real as opposed to something received or coloured by the perspective
of a middle agent (reporter, director of photography). It is personal,
real understandin8, as opposed to Theoretical or vicarious understanding,
that is at the heart of the movement.
As a result another important strand
of recontextualisation emerges - the discovery and exploration of
paradox. By engaging in the real, one confronts ones own perspective,
assumptions and opinions. Inevitably, one discovers paradoxes. And
these paradoxes will defy any prescribed political or artistic doctrine.
It is the duty of the artist to accept these paradoxes and to realise
the ideas that result.
In live media, there is always a large
gulf between the planned theoretical idea and that which actually
happens in the moment of execution. The experience of paradox is
very common in these moments what shouldn't work sometimes does
and what should work sometimes does not. It is the exploration of
this experience that means that no idea can really be considered
relevant unless it has been tried.
From this comes the belief that art
is "that which is done". For it is only when an idea is
done and placed in the context of the real world, to be experienced
in the moment by others, that the idea becomes complete the artist
can truly understand what he has created. And this art cannot be
criticised in hindsight or by conjecture. So the only critic that
is truly acceptable in the recontextualist movement is the artist
himself or another artist that endeavours to implement another idea
into the real world and out of the contextiessness of the realm
of thought.
So the recontextualist believes in
doing ideas. And doing as much of the process of executing the idea
as possible, to discover the intricate nature of the tasks that
exist to achieve the realisation of it This is often achieved by
downing the accepted technology of the time and attempting the task
from scratch.
The movement filters through to the
lives of those who engage with it. Doing is the art. For the recontextualist
must release himself from the safety of thought and attempt to make
his ideas, and dreams real.
So, be big and do.
"Whatever you dream, you can
do. Begin it. For boldness has genius, power and in it. Begin it
now!" - Goethe
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