Debating the Start Date of Contemporary Art and Its Economic Parallels
In his 2002 essay 'A Singular Modernity,' Fredric Jameson examines the difficulties in defining periods in contemporary art. Some scholars point to 1967, linking it to Michael Fried's 'Art and Objecthood' and various global movements. Charles Jencks, however, identifies March 16, 1972, at 3 PM, as the moment Modernism concluded, marked by the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe projects. The 2013 publication 'Contemporary Art: 1989 – Present' by Suzanne Hudson and Alexander Dumbadze claims the contemporary period began with the fall of the Berlin Wall between 1989 and 1991. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, U.S. multifactor productivity averaged 2.26% until 1972, declining to 1.04% by 1996. OECD statistics indicate that U.S. social spending increased from 10% of GDP in 1970 to nearly 20% by 2014. This opinion piece was released in December 2015.
Key facts
- Fredric Jameson's 2002 essay 'A Singular Modernity' discusses periodizing contemporary art.
- Some scholars date contemporary art's start to 1967, with Michael Fried's 'Art and Objecthood' and civil rights movements.
- Charles Jencks marks March 16, 1972, at 3pm as the beginning of Postmodernism, citing the demolition of Pruitt-Igoe in St. Louis, Missouri.
- Suzanne Hudson and Alexander Dumbadze's 2013 book 'Contemporary Art: 1989 – Present' argues the contemporary period began from 1989 to 1991.
- U.S. multifactor productivity dropped from 2.26% before 1972 to 0.83% after 2004, per the National Bureau of Economic Research.
- OECD data shows U.S. social spending increased from 10% of GDP in 1970 to almost 20% by 2014.
- Edmund Phelps's 2015 book 'Mass Flourishing' highlights 'indigenous innovation' in 19th and early-20th century Western economies.
- Tyler Cowen coined 'The Great Stagnation' to describe current economic and artistic periods.
Entities
Artists
- Fredric Jameson
- Michael Fried
- Charles Jencks
- Suzanne Hudson
- Alexander Dumbadze
- Francis Fukuyama
- Edmund Phelps
- Tyler Cowen
- Le Corbusier
Institutions
- National Bureau of Economic Research
- OECD
- ArtReview
Locations
- St. Louis
- Missouri
- United States
- United Kingdom
- Berlin
- Soviet Union