Quantum Fields

I went looking for a 21st century art movement. I was not surprised when I found very little that could be classified as a movement, along with many painters attempting to start their own.

Movements in art are highly misunderstood, in general. A movement is likely to incorporate principles of philosophy, and most certainly extends across artistic genres, encompassing literary and theatrical aspects, as well as visual arts. Movements are typically socially and culturally motivated, often with political undertones or influences. Most artistic movements are better described as a consciousness emergence which extends beyond localized group investigations. Furthermore, very few artists of any given movement were purposely participating or aware that history would deem said movement “significant.”  In truth, the significance of any movement is most often determined in hind sight, with only a few rare and intuitive individuals realizing the importance in the midst of the glow.

Impressionism, cubism, dadaism, to name but a few, are all respected movements attributed and collectively assigned to a mere handful of the artists who worked and investigated within the social and philosphical emergence of these respective movements. Impressionism and cubism are inexorably linked to scientific discoveries of the time (though the artists themselves were as unaware of the work of the scientists and the scientists were of the artists), while dadaism was born of philosophy and shifting social attitudes with regard to the “status quo”.

We are reminded art imitates life, life imititates art, when we survey the creative landscape for “significant” features. Significance is not defined by popularity, though popularity often follows. In the 21st century, as in the 2oth century, we can expect emerging technologies to have significant social, cultural and creative influences. We can expect the radically shifting paradigms of global consciousness to significantly influence our human experience and to manifest in the arts. We can excpect the internet to be the medium through which these influences are conveyed, because a global voice will require a global ear.

Tags: 21st Century, art movement, artists, consciusness, cultural, discoveries, emergence, investigations, philosophy, political, principles, science, social