Contemporar

concepts in order to fully

appreciate what artists are making.
Before the industrial period

y Art Forms (approximately before the mid-

19th century) in Europe and the

Based on the
United States, artists used the
elements of art to make their
paintings and sculptures more

Elements and realistic and express their ideas

about their subjects — usually
figures, still life, or landscapes.
Principles Generally speaking, they worked
to create compositions which had
unity, balance and harmony.

From the 1850s well into the 20th

What I Need to Know
century, modern artists began to
The elements and concepts of art use these artistic elements to
— including line, form, color, and create more abstract art.
texture— are historically the Eventually, many used elements
conceptual building blocks of art such as color, line, or shape alone
and design used by Western artists to express feelings, emotions, or
to convey ideas or emotions in art. concepts and ideas directly
separated from any other subject
Besides learning how to use paint matter. (Clyfford Still untitled
or carve stone, by applying (1950-C)
concepts such as balance,
repetition, harmony, and At the end of the 20th and
symmetry, artists often learn how beginning of the 21st centuries, art
to work with those elements. Just historians and critics noticed a
as we need to know how to read difference in ways that artists
the words to understand a novel, worked and the ideas that
so we also have to learn the interested them. They began to
language of art to understand a describe this era as postmodern,
painting or a sculpture. Art literally “after modern.”
audiences need to grasp the Postmodernism has been used to
vocabulary of certain elements and categorize widely diverse styles
and concerns about making art. What is it
What unifies post modern art, if
anything, is a reaction to What is contemporary art? What
modernism—at times destroying are the elements and principles of
or debunking traditionally held contemporary art? How do artistic
rules or canons of modern art; at elements and principles contribute
other times copying masterworks to creating meaning in art? How
of the past in new ways. can comprehension of elements
Generally, meaning in art became and concepts enable us today to
more ambiguous and understand art? Contemporary art
contradictory. is an art produced by the artist
today. It is not restricted to
The traditional elements and
individual experience, but it is
principles of art, and their use in
reflective of the world we live in.
the art of the past, often seem
The artwork that is created by
beside the point or purposefully
today’s contemporary artist has a
set aside in the work of
world view and sensitive to
postmodern artists. For much
changing times Contemporary
contemporary art or art being
artists frequently go beyond these
made today, the content or
elements and values in their work,
meaning is more important than
using new ideas and techniques, in
the materials or forms used to
their attempts to establish meaning
make it. Until very recently, artists
in today's world. The elements and
were making art that would
concepts for art are kind of a
engage viewers visually through
script. As writers, artists use
subject matter and the composition
phrases, pick, organize and
of elements and principles.
combine lines, forms, colors and
Contemporary artists seem to be
textures in several ways to express
more interested in engaging
themselves and build meaning.
viewers conceptually through
Below are the elements and
ideas and issues. The elements of
principles used by the
art, while still present at times, are
contemporary artists.
often not adequate to
understanding the meaning of
contemporary art.
Elements and Some common sources of stolen
images are artworks from the
Principles of distant or recent past, historical
Contemporary Arts records, media (film and
television), or popular culture
Appropriation (advertisements or products). The
source is sometimes unknown, but
We live in a community where the artist may have personal
pictures and objects overflow. associations. The source of the
From television to the Internet, appropriate image or object may
from the supermarket to the be politically charged, symbolic,
junkyard, we're surrounded by ambiguous, or may push the limits
cheap, or free, and throwaway of the imagery considered to be
words, pictures, and objects. This acceptable to art.
is not shocking that today's artists
integrate this content into their Appropriate imagery can be
artistic expression. In this, the first photographically or carefully
element and principle of imitated, reproduced by
contemporary arts born. mechanical infers such as an
overhead projector, joined of the
Appropriation. It is the process time re- create an address or
of making new content by taking repaint it, changing its scale or
from another source pre-existing design to make unused meaning.
image — books on art history, ads, Experts can as well compare
the media — and incorporating or differing pictures or objects, layer
combining it with new ones. them with other pictures, break
Appropriation is a three- them into parts, or contextualized
dimensional variant of using found them, with recommends to
objects inpainting. To appropriate reconsider pictures or objects by a
is to borrow. A found object is an setting them in a cutting-edge
actual object— often a setting.
manufactured product of a
commonplace nature — given a Appropriation refers to the act of
new identity as an artwork or part borrowing or reusing existing
of an art piece. components inside a modern
work. Postmodern apportionment
craftsmen, counting Barbara
Kruger, are sharp to deny the idea the art of the 1980’s could be
of creativity. They accept that in epitomized by any one technique
borrowing existing symbolism or or practice, it would be
components of symbolism, they appropriation.
are re- contextualizing or
appropriating the first symbolism, Performance Art
permitting the audience to
renegotiate the meaning of the The modern shape of
initial in distinctive, more contemporary art – which risen
important, or more current. out of Happenings and Conceptual
art ended up a major frame of
Images and elements of culture avantgarde art amid the late
that have been appropriated 1960’s and 1970’s –takes as its
commonly involve famous and medium the artist himself: the real
recognizable works of art, well work of art being the artist’s live
known literature, and easily actions. Presently prevalent with
accessible images from the media. an expanding number of
The first artist to successfully postmodernist specialists.
demonstrate forms of
appropriation within his or her Performance art is another
work is widely considered to be element of contemporary art
Marcel Duchamp. He devised the which regularly increases drama,
concept of the ‘readymade’, which often acting and development to
essentially involved an item being extremes of expression and
chosen by the artist, signed by the continuity that are not allowed
artist and repositioned into a within the theater. It interprets
gallery context. By asking the various human activities such as
viewer to consider the object as ordinary activities such as chores,
art, Duchamp was appropriating it. routines, and rituals, to socially
For Duchamp, the work of the relevant themes such as poverty,
artist was in selecting the object. commercialism, and war.

Whilst the beginnings of Execution events are hosted in

appropriation can be located to the several of the most outstanding
beginning of the 20th century exhibitions of modern
through the innovations of craftsmanship in the world, as well
Duchamp, it is often said that if as conventional ones. Words are
rarely noticeable, while music and
commotions of different kinds are Various types of performance art
regular. A number of the most have evolved from simple, often
outstanding exhibitions of modern private investigations of everyday
craftmanship in the world, as well routines, rituals, and endurance
as conventional centers such as the tests, to larger-scale site-specific
Metropolitan Exhibition Hall of environments and public projects,
Art, are being held for multimedia productions, and
performances. Serbian Marina autobiographical cabaret-style solo
Abramovic (b. 194) is one of the work.
most popular examples of modern
execution craftmanship. Below are example of
performative art emphasizing the
Although this brand of different characteristics of
postmodernist art is not easy to performance art such as
define precisely, one important spontaneous and one-off, or
feature is the need for an artist to rehearsed and series based. It may
perform or express his 'art' in front consist of a small-scale event, or a
of a live audience. For example, massive public spectacle. It can
allowing the audience to view an take place almost anywhere and
interesting assemblage or deliberately thin.
installation would not be
considered Performance Art, but it The immediate stimulus for
would be to watch the artist Performance art was the series of
construct the assemblage or theatrical Happenings staged by
installation. Allan Kaprow and others in New
York in the late 1950s. Then in
Performance art refers to art 1961, Yves Klein (1928-62)
activities that are presented to a presented three nude models
live audience and can combine covered in his trademark blue
music, dance, poetry, theater, paint, who rolled around on sheets
visual art and video. Whether of white paper. He was also
public, private or video taped, famous for his "jumps into the
performance art often involves an void". For more details, see Yves
artist performing an action that Klein's Postmodernist art (1956-
can be planned and scripted, or 62). In the early 1960s several
can emphasize spontaneous, other American conceptual artists
unpredictable elements of chance. such as Robert Morris (b.1931)
Bruce Nauman (b.1941)and distances or areas surrounding,
Dennis Oppenheim began to within, and within the components
include "Performance" in their of a item. Space can be either
repertoires. positive or negative, open or
closed, Shallow or deep, and two-
Space or three-dimensional. Often space
is not clearly shown in a piece,but
Many contemporary artists deal it is an illusion. It is considered as
with space by concentrating on the breath of art. Space is found in
real space— the dimensions of a almost every piece of art that has
house, the spaces that we travel been made.
through in the city or in the natural
world, the boundless spaces of the Photographers capture space,
sky or the virtual space of the sculptors depend on space and
Internet. We work with fine-art or shape, and architects create space.
industrial materials— from wood This is a central aspect of every of
and stone to steel and plastic— to the visual arts. Space provides the
frame space or to creates pace- audience a guide for the
filling work. Materials such as presentation of an artwork. For
electrical lighting, film, video, or example, you can draw a larger
digital media can also transform, object than another to suggest that
document, or create space. it is closer to the viewer. Likewise,
Viewers may be surrounded by art, apiece of environmental art can be
or they can contribute to a installed in a way that leads the
concentrated experience or a viewer through space.
perception of a real scape. When
Negative and Positive Space
an artist creates a piece of work
for a room or a specific space, it is Art historians use the term
called installation art. Most positive space to refer to the
installations are temporary and subject of the piece itself—the
often require multiple senses, such flower vase in a painting or the
as sight, sound and smell. structure of a sculpture. Negative
space refers to the empty spaces
Space is an art transforming
the artist has created around,
space, for example the flash mobs,
between, and within the subjects.
and art installation in malls and
parks. It also refers to the
Quite often, we think of positive unusual materials for their arts,
as being light and negative as such as recycled materials, and
being dark. This does not newer technologies such as
necessarily apply to every piece of photography, video, or digital
art. For example, you might paint media offer artists even more ways
a black cup on a white canvas. We to express themselves.
wouldn't necessarily call the cup
negative because it is the subject: Many artists working today
The black value is negative, but incorporates more than material or
the space of the cup is positive. In technique in ways that create
three-dimensional art, the negative hybrid art forms. Combinations of
spaces are typically the open or still image, moving image, sound,
relatively empty parts of the piece. digital media, and found object
For example, a metal sculpture scan create new hybrid art forms
may have a hole in the middle, that are beyond what traditional
which we would call the negative artists have ever imagined.
space. In two-dimensional art, Hybridity is another element and
negative space can have a great principle used by contemporary
impact. artist in their artworks. It is a
usage of unconventional materials,
Hybridity mixing of unlikely materials to
produce and artwork. For
As what you have learned above example, coffee for painting,
contemporary artists used various miniature sculptures from pencils.
mediums and techniques, applied
The concept of hybridity when
different elements and principles
applied to culture conveys
in their artworks such as space,
elements of all of these
appropriation, and performance.
definitions, including positive
But since we are immersed in a
elements such as diversity, and
hybridized environment of reality
cooperation, as well as negative
and augmented reality daily. For
elements such as unviable
artists today, the choice of
offspring and un natural monsters.
materials and media for creating
In this way the term hybridity
art is wide open. Some artists
contains conflicting connotations.
continue to use traditional media
Hybridity, at the most basic level,
such as paint, clay, or bronze, but
implies the mixing of two or more
others have selected new or
elements to create a third. Beyond Technology Art
this there is some discussion as to
what cultural hybridity means. What have you observed in their
How could this idea transfer when art works? What are the materials
we use the term hybridity to they used to come up with this
describe contemporary art? What craftsmanship? How does a
do artists use to make art? This technique or medium limit or
hybridity in art practice is about expand meaning in art? How do
transcendence, beyond the visual artists make choices about
logic of the digital or material. In materials and techniques for their
the fluid transaction between art? Well, whatever the decisions
states of existence, algorithm and of the artists make concerning
human error and different forms of media and materials are often
media, something metaphysical affected by ideas they want to
starts to surface in the space express about their experiences
between. The concept of hybridity living today.
can be applied to two aspects of
art today. Furthermore, humans have created
art through the ages, but various
1. Artists today are comfortable cultures have defined it differently.
using whatever seems best to fully Throughout the history of Western
investigate and express their ideas culture, the nature of art has been
or concepts and often move debated, leading to the formation
among different media and of an entire branch of
techniques to express new things philosophical study called
in their work. aesthetics. Today, most experts
agree that there is not only one
2. One approach to understanding
definition of art, but that it
art today involves identifying what
encompasses a variety of ideas,
media and materials the artists
approaches, and qualities.
chose and considering why they
chose to work with them. So, in this age of transition in
which material and digital
experience are in a nun
precedented state of coexistence,
our understanding of the physical
is being endlessly reshaped by
advancements in technology.
Consequently, the very meaning of
physicality and its apparent
importance to us has become
subject to questioning. Since the
1960’s the term new media art was
coined and it was used to describe
practices that apply computer
technology as an essential part of
the creative process and
production.

Placing the term under a vast

umbrella known as new media,
computer production, video art,
computer-based installations, and
later the internet and Post Internet
art and exploration of the virtual
reality become recognized as
artistic practices. The term, in the
contemporary practice, refers to
the use of mass production and the
manipulation of the virtual world,
its tools and programs as what we
called Technology Art. The use
of technology in the creation and
dissemination of art works.

As such, designers, and artist to

produce commercial pieces or for
more elaborate and conceptual
programs, such as 3D modelling,
Illustrator, or Photoshop
 What is position
1. Introduction: The introduction
section serves to introduce the issue
or topic that the paper will address. It
paper? may include a brief background,
context, or overview of the issue.
A position paper is a written
document that presents an argument 2. Statement of Position: This
or a stance on a particular issue or section clearly and concisely states
topic. It usually includes a brief the writer's position on the issue. This
introduction, a statement of the statement should be supported by
writer's position, supporting evidence evidence and arguments that follow.
and arguments, and a conclusion. 3. Evidence and Argumentation:
Position papers are often used in This section provides evidence in
academic or political settings to support of the stated position. It
provide a framework for discussion explains why the writer's position is
and debate. They can be written by valid and what evidence or examples
individuals or groups and may be support it. This section may include
used to inform policy or decision- statistics, expert testimony, and other
making processes. relevant sources of information that
A Position Paper is a common type of help make the case for the writer's
academic argument writing position.
assignment. Typically, a Position 4. Alternative Viewpoints: This
Paper is written after reading about section acknowledges the existence of
and discussing a particular issue. alternative viewpoints or counter-
Quite often, the readings cover more arguments to the writer's position. It
than one issue, and as a writer you may provide a critique of these
must choose a particular area of opposing viewpoints and explain why
focus. they are not correct.

What are the 5. Conclusion: The conclusion

summarizes the writer's position and

parts of position the evidence and arguments used to

support it. It may also make
suggestions or recommendations for
paper? follow-up action based on the writer's
position.
A position paper typically includes
the following parts: