Postmodernism emerged in the late 20th century as a departure from modernism. It is characterized by skepticism of culture and history and a rejection of the idea that any media or text has greater value than another. Postmodernism reflects society's feelings of alienation and uncertainty about identity. Theorists argue that economic and technological changes, like television and the internet, have led to a "three minute culture" and a society dominated by images and spectacle. Postmodern art is hybrid and samples different styles and levels of culture to blur hierarchies of taste.

1. Postmodernism

2. What is it?
 Postmodernism is a late-20th-century movement in the arts, architecture and
criticism that was a departure from modernism. Postmodernism includes
sceptical interpretations of culture, literature, art, philosophy, history and so
on.
 In media, postmodernism rejects the idea that any media product or text is of
any greater value than another. All judgements of value are merely taste.
 Anything can be art, anything can deserve to reach an audience and culture
‘eats itself’ as there is no longer anything new to produce or distribute
 The distinction between media and reality has collapsed and we now live in a
reality defined by images and representations- a state of simulacrum. Images
refer to each other and represent each other as reality rather than some
‘pure’ reality that exists before the image represents it-this is the state of
hyper-reality.

3.  Postmodernism is also said to reflect modern society’s feelings of alienation,
insecurity and uncertainties concerning identity, history, progress and truth.
Artists such as Madonna, Michael Jackson and David Bowie are all cited as
examples of postmodernism in the ways in which they have created or re-
created different identities for themselves.

4. What do experts say?
 Theorists on postmodernism such as Lyotard, Baudrillard and Jameson argued
that recent economic changes produced particular ‘structure of feeling’ or a
‘cultural logic’. Typical assertions include claims that, mostly thanks to
television and MTV in particular, we now live in a ‘three minute culture’ (the
length of most people’s attention spans); or that we are part of an over-visual
society, a ‘society of the spectacle’- due to the preponderance of television
and the internet.

5. Postmodernism=Aesthetic?
 Hybridity- (the combination and sampling of different kinds f levels-of hip
hop music, material in TV adverts, films etc.). Hybrid forms are said to level
hierarchies of taste. It is said that all distinctions between high culture and
popular culture have gone, or become blurred. Postmodern texts ‘raid the
image bank’ which is so richly available through video and computer
technologies, recycle some old movies and shows on television, the internet
etc. Music, film and TV provide excellent examples of these processes.

6. I feel that in my work I
will be creating a
product that uses the
elements of something
that will be a pastiche.
This is because I
intend to follow the
work of The Cure and
emulate their up-beat
entertaining work. By
doing this, I will also
be creating a homage
as I will be bringing a
song of the 1980s into
a modern context,
ergo widening my
audience to a younger
age as well as gaining
attention from
previous fans of The
Cure.
PASTICHE AND HOMAGE

7. The Cure’s music videos…
 The band's early music videos have been described as "dreadful affairs" and have
been maligned for their poor quality, particularly by the band itself. Lol Tolhurst
said, "Those videos were unmitigated disasters; we weren't actors and our
personalities weren't coming across."[94] It was with the video for "Let's Go to Bed",
their first collaboration with director Tim Pope, that the Cure would become
noted for their videos. Pope added a playful element to the band's videos; the
director insisted in a 1987 Spin interview, "I think that side of them was always
there, but was never brought out."[13] Pope would go on to direct the majority of
the Cure's videos, and his videos, which became synonymous with the band,
helped expand the Cure's audience during the 1980s.[95] Pope explained the appeal
of working with the Cure by saying, "the Cure is the ultimate band for a filmmaker
to work with because Robert Smith really understands the camera. His songs are so
cinematic. I mean on one level there's this stupidity and humour, right, but
beneath that there are all [Smith's] psychological obsessions and
claustrophobia."[88]