Well, the Bauhaus' "Metal Dance" probably isn't actually "needed" anymore...but what does that have to do with 9-11?

The Bauhaus' "Metal Dance" probably isn't needed anymore - regardless of 9-11.
Originally uploaded by swarthbore.

So my brother e-mailed this Op-Ed to me from the Wall Street Journal. It's about where art should be headed now that, apparently, modernism AND postmodernism are "dead."

I disagree so much with almost everything that this guy says - except in regards to Duchamp's 'Fountain' - I love that damn fountain.

One quote:

"The iPod, for better or worse, may be our Duchampian icon, the most important cultural signifier of an age just aborning. It's beautiful. Its lines are pleasing. It is even the color of classical sculpture."

WHAT!? Is that what makes an "important cultural signifier?" Is that why he thinks people like the Fountain? Because it's pretty? Talk about missing the goddamn point...

Another quote:

"Everyone in the world watched the second World Trade Center tower fall in real time, and will do so the next time. The world we inhabit now is Iraq, Sudan, tsunami, weapons of mass destruction, Rwanda, Bosnia, Beslan. Knowing -- and seeing with our own eyes -- so much that is so bad is not normal. We don't need to be shocked by art. We now live in a constant state of shock."

Does this guy understand anything about modernism? Has he NEVER read Benjamin? Does he really think that advocating a return to classical forms is a good thing? Seriously, is he a fascist?

Anyway, I'm holding myself back from a mega-rant here - I need to stop myself from typing.

I'm curious what other people think about the article. Comment on here. Even better, find me in person, we'll have a couple beers and argue this thing through.

Oh, and if you think that I'm the bad guy here...that I'm just being even more pretentious than usual...well, he used the term "iPodian."

I rest my fucking case.

iPodian.