Jessica Turner

AMC-50000: Research Methods

Lindenwood University

Professor / Dr. Steven J. Cody

August 30, 2022

Exploring Metamodern Iconographical Possibilities in Digital Art

Abstract

The digital artwork Everydays, The First 5000 Days made an astonishing splash in the art market of 2021, selling for $69,346,250 on March 22, 2021.[1] I theorize, and question, the possibility of the digital artist Beeple’s NFT Everydays, The First 5000 Days (figure 1) being a reversal of the ‘readymade,’ a theory first introduced by David Joselit, thereby also placing it within a metamodern framework. In order to contextualize how this piece of digital art is closely related to metamodern art, opposed to assuming its position as simply contemporary or even post-modern, I will discuss the qualities which define metamodern art.

Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker define metamodern art as "oscillating between a modern enthusiasm and a postmodern irony."[2] Vermeulen and van denAkker acknowledged a turn in the approach to art making in which the artists reflect that although the art may seem silly, stupid, or similar to something done before, it doesn't make the art not serious.[3] The qualities revolving around metamodern art include tendencies that subject viewers to a new structure of feeling, beyond modernism and postmodern characteristics; this structure of feeling is largely what makes up metamodern thought; it is described as a structure of feeling, defined in its name referring to "meta" as notions containing "with, between, and beyond," where it is nestled in-between (epistemologically) postmodernism, and also beyond post modernism.[4] As I will explain later in this essay, the argument that postmodernism has been over since the emergence of events such as climate change and digital revolutions, becomes clearer as we see an increasing desire to depict the Anthropocene but also utilize digital technology in contemporary art, as argued by Vermeulen and van den Akker.

In terms of defining the aesthetics in digital art, Paul Crowther does a fantastic job at attempting to apply a formal analysis to digital art, stating that not only does digital art have more "autonomous aesthetic functions," but also, that qualitatively speaking, it provides much more dimension, visually, to the picture plane; and qualitatively speaking, the nuances of these visual structures are "only possible through the use of computer-based technology."[5]This is an interesting statement, as it would begin to scratch the surface of how and why we are so drawn to digital art (what would be defined as a non-fungible token), particularly now. I will explain how semiotics, psychoanalysis, postmodernism, deconstruction, and formalism play a critical component to digital art and defining digital art tendencies, and how these devices can be utilized to form a critique of digital art.

In terms of psychoanalysis, Beeple's 5000 Everyday's begs a psychoanalytical critique due to its close relation to surrealist work or works that signify imagery carved from our subconscious and dreamlike state of mind. Freudian theory helps us define surrealist tendencies by looking into our dreams, which according to Freud, bear hidden meaning through images. The act of resistance is garnered here as the dream symbolism considers"resistance to being translated into words."[6]Whereby, the images we are looking at go beyond verbal recognition and seep into our subconsciousness (sometimes through structures of feeling).

Metamodern Theory

Metamodern theory can be seen as a harkening back to, or oscillation between tradition, modernism, and postmodernism, but viewed through a new lens: metamodernity. To define metamodernism could be one step closer to understanding the cultural phenomenon of the non-fungible token, or, better yet, digital art. Seemingly, as the world advanced into a new millenia, cultural phenomena in the form of popular culture also has begun to change. With the advanced knowledge and speed at which information is passed on, it was only natural for artists to utilizet raditional, modern, and postmodern thought, and place their contemporary period within this oscillating dichotomy which defines our current period. However, artists have long been separated from traditional and modern ideologies, and to assume artists are still thinking with a postmodern lens would be naive; this is because technology has allowed for art to be propelled into an ironic sincerity, which almost makes fun of our collective past ways of thinking, but also allows for a new meaning to emerge.

Undoubtedly, the interdisciplinary nature of art has allowed for a unique merging of the environment, that is, our current climate, and the ways in which art is created and displayed. Artists such as Edward Burtynsky utilizes large-scale photos of the excavation of earth; a process which has contributed to the Anthropocene era, that is, the current epoch we now live in. However, artists are not limited to using aerial photos of excavation processes by theoretically large, corrupt companies, but have also begun to use digital art to affect the thinking of its viewers; not only can digital artists consciously choose more energy-efficient platforms to share their creative work, but they can create visually dynamic non-fungible tokens to be seen as climate-change rhetoric. In a sense, art representing climate change or global warming, or what I prefer to call 'Anthropocene art,' is also, in a way, representing art of resistance; resistance by bringing attention to environmental concerns and placing this concern in a social context that is art. But how and why is climate change art related to Beeple's 5000 Everyday's? I believe they not only both exist within metamodernity, but express resistance to the normative forms of expression.

The rhetoric surrounding climate change has arguably increased as we gradually enter a post-pandemic stage. During the lockdowns our society has collectively experienced climate change as an even more pressing topic and world emergency. Whereas, metamodernism parallels many contemporary political, social, economic, and environment issues today. Although that does not mean they are directly related, it would not be unusual to say that these post-post-modern entanglements we find ourselves in, is expressed through a metamodern lens simply because both metamodern theory and our current global issues are experiencing very similar environments and thus work together to define our current moment.

The Anthropocene is centered around self-destruction - we humans, as a species, have not done a good enough job at protecting our earth. This can, arguably, be related to more contemporary works of art which also self-destructs, such as Banksy's self-shredding artwork, which literally destroyed itself immediately after being purchased in 2018. In a way, this artwork is mirroring our current climate situation, and I am interested in uncovering this self-destructive nature found in metamodernity. Uniquely, the Banksy's "Girl with aBalloon," or now known as "Love is in the Bin," didn't fully destruct, in fact, it only partially destroyed itself, leaving the heart-shaped balloon in-tact. Could this be a reference to our own self-destructive nature? Perhaps to the nihilism produced in society with the unwavering flag that we have already gone too far, so what is the point? Or the oscillation between two separate spaces which we bounce between?

I would also like to argue that the fight for climate change action, is in a sense, an act of resistance, which we have witnessed largely since art historical references such as in Liberty Leading the People completed in 1830CE (figure 2). Not that every artwork which defends the environment is necessarily art protesting the age in which it lives in, but there is psychological connections to how people resist or contest a period in which they live. If we're thinking about environment art, or climate change art, we also should be asking ourselves, what does resistance look like? Because generally, it is a piece of artwork utilizing visual culture to convey a message regarding the Anthropocene; therefore, placing this art in the context of resistance. Depicting humans' effect on the climate has been depicted in art historical paintings, most notably and likely most popularly in Jospeh William Turner's paintings, such as in Rain, Steam, and Speed: The Great Western Railway from 1844. So, we have, most particularly, been keen to address humans influence on the climate since modernity, when the steam engine was introduced, and when the industrial era emerged. 

Beeple's The First Everydays: 5000 Days

With the emergence of Beeple's non-fungible token into the conversation surrounding digital art, this relatively new art form can be foreign to the formal and technical prowess needed to understand its meaning. According to Paul Crowther, traditional idioms of characterizing visual art had already been exhausted in 2008, such as abstract art; however, the emergence of digital art, and now its potential to disrupt the art market has allowed critics to apply innovative analysis with this new type of 'aura' now found in digital art.[7]  I argue Beeple's work to be largely engrained in semiotic theory, as he utilizes highly detailed political and social imagery; and according to Mieke Bal and Normal Bryson, the signs, in this case, which are depicted through digital art imagery, contribute to the "production of meaning in society."[8] For example, Beeple created a database for his individual pieces of art, but the database becomes obsolete without each piece to create the final product. He is also contributing to our understanding of this political and social moment in history.

Readymade

The readymade, which emerged on the art scene most notably with Marcel Duchamp's Fountain in 1917 (Figure 3), refers to "artwork made from ordinary manufactured objects by simply choosing the object and modifying it," thereby altering the index of the object and therefore giving it new meaning.[9] Formally speaking, when we look at Beeples 5000 Everydays, we see an amalgamation of 5000 images juxtaposed next to one another in an effort to create an overall effect in the final image; the image almost glistens, fading from one colour to another - lighter images on the top left, and darker images toward the bottom right - a pixelated effect glimmering in its wholeness. However, each image stands alone when you zoom into the overall composition. Each image, was, in a sense, a readymade, waiting to be placed into position next to thousands of other images, ready to construct a new meaning, a new whole, contributing to this idea of the reverse readymade through the deconstruction of the image. When looking at Beeple's 5000 Everyday's, we see an abstraction built by many images, which initially were made separate from one another, and have now become assembled into one; each work as a proxy for a digital, reversed readymade: alone, they have no significance, but put together, they represent the whole of a story spanning five thousand days of the artist; a temporal unfolding of time. To understand the final image, a deconstruction of the whole is required. Juxtaposing these images constitutes the final product, and what could be deemed the "reversal" of the readymade as explained by David Joselit.[10]

In connecting traditional arts and the importance for example, of classical music and art, Triyano Bramantyo suggests we consider appreciating "rural and indigenous as true art, and the same level as classical music."[11] Bramantyo speaks of digital art as emerging from the postmodern culture of science and technology, particularly, the emergence of computer technology. The postmodern phenomenon was visible in works such as Andy Warhol, who arguably, also took the 'readymade' such as the soup can and created art through repetition of the object. This can also be related to Beeple taking each of his images and creating a 5000-piece work of art - each separate piece functioning as a readymade (ready to be placed next to another to constitute a whole); thus, acting as a repetition ritual which ultimately ends in defining the final piece.

On the other hand, if we think of works by Marcel Duchamp, as I noted earlier, we can say Duchamp's work was a product of modernism, and Warhol a product of postmodern times, which allows for a greater understanding of Beeple's artwork as being different from both these interpretations, and falling into the bracket of a metamodern piece of art. Andy Warhol's artwork needed to be deconstructed in order to understand its meaning, which of course presented itself as a vehicle representing the postmodern condition, of glorifying post-war products with a focus on housewives and family life, mocking the big box stores which commodified so many iconic products such as Wonder bread and Campbell's Soup (easy for women to make for their postmodern families which stressed home-life and hacks for raising a family) - products that could also, seemingly, be considered 'readymade.'[12] This sense of repetition really was highlighted during Warhol's time, but also even more during the emergence of the internet and communication technology.  This is a time where signs can reproduce themselves at alarming rates - imagery can be communicated and connote meaning through society by this means of repetitive and mass viewership.

In terms of subject matter, Beeples 5000 Everydays already considers the apocalyptic, or post-apocalyptic scenarios when the merging of humans and computers becomes ubiquitous (even more than it currently is) through the use of signs and symbols.T his brings us to imagery of the cyborg, as Bramantyo discusses, this new human species, in the form of a cybernetic organism, or "human cybernetic structure capable of self-regulating."[13] We can see through some of Beeple's imagery in 5000 Everydays, the influence of the cyborg, but also many socio-political influences (figure 4); characters who are larger than life, taking on cyborg characteristics, as well as science vs nature. This concept of the human machine is rampant in not only Beeple's digital artworks, but other metamodern artists as well, such as Edward Burtynsky's work representing the Anthropocene Epoch. This can also be related to resistance, as we have discussed earlier - the resistance of technology impacting humans in such a way that becomes destructive. The resistance in this case is represented through awareness and mass distribution - Burtynsky utilizes large format photographs to place a beautiful emphasis on the Anthropocene in the midst of its realization; the photographs are expansive, and signify the extraction process of mining for oil, marble, etc.  Edward Burtynsky's landscape photographs capture manmade technology in the act of destruction, for the extraction of resources, in an effort to make society aware of the unknown or unseen (figure 5). These photos therefore act as a sign for resistance, which contribute to our understanding of semiotics in art; a replacement for the real thing - and figure 5 for example, allows for an oscillation between a nostalgia for the past un-extracted earth (pre-dating modernity), but also a hope for the future, a hope that our understanding of these massive extraction processes can be a learning experience to propel humanity into greater consciousness over our desire to extract resources (which contributes to global warming). This helps tie Burtynsk'y work into metamodern theory as well.

This can also be related to artists who pursue the creation of artwork to signify the Anthropocene epoch (tying theAnthropocene to metamodernism), where humans are the biggest disruptor to the planet earth - which has been the number one contributor to climate change. If we think of the body as we do the earth, a living, breathing, organism, we can also see how images of large industrial machines, mining the earth for material or monetary gain, can be associated with similarly, the body being invaded by technology(such as computer chips). We may not know the full outcome of this developmentof cyborg culture, and equally can correlate this insertion of computer technology with the insertion of big industrial equipment mining the earth for resources (and producing pollution in the process). Furthermore, using psychoanalysis to decipher metamodern works of art, such as Beeple's, we can begin to develop this consistent replication of figures which are larger than life, using technology to influence the masses, which could constitute how powerful political figures utilize the internet to sway people in different ways.

We are faced with signs of resistance; the human cyborg will face and does face similar rhetoric - both the euphoria of this high functioning human as making our lives easier, but always with the fear of the unknown residing beneath the surface - and the future being that this could be really bad for humanity. However, we override this fear with the utopic advances that are possible. In postmodern and metamodern culture, the cyborg can be found in science fiction movies such as Robo Cop, Blade Runner, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Avatar.[14] Bramantyo discusses the concept that we live in a prison, or, as Plato says, in a cave, where only the shadows of others and their torches, constitute our reality (therefore we are hidden from reality). But when we listen to music or look at a painting (in this case a digital artwork), we 'exist' in a different reality.[15]

Arguably, digital art, which allows for intense perspective, even more possible than a physical painting, allows viewers to immerse themselves in a very intricate story; a new world which they may navigate, and, thereby, an environment which they may then mimic internally (also changing their interpretation or perspective of reality despite their current surroundings beyond the digital artwork). It leaves us with the question, how will humans be experiencing art in ten or fifteen years? And, has traditional art already run its course, and is it becoming further and further from what we want to experience in our current reality? Is traditional art becoming obsolete? I argue that no, it is not, because understanding traditional art allows for a greater understanding of, for example, digital art, as in Beeple's case, traditional art is always consulted.

Conclusion

In conclusion, semiotics, postmodernism, and a psychoanalytic analysis of metamodern art helps to for a formal analysis of digital artwork. By using Beeple as an example, I have tied the meaning of the most famous digital artist, to our current contemporary period (metamodernism) through a connection of semiotics (the sign, symbol), as well as postmodernism and deconstruction, by also utilizing a psychoanalytic approach. Beeple's images contained in the final product 5000 Everyday's beg a psychoanalytic reading as discussed, but also requires to be deconstructed and compared to both modern artists such as Marcel Duchamp, and postmodern artists such as Andy Warhol. The importance of defining Beeple's digital art, or digital art in general, as metamodern, a new way of thought can emerge, and this structure of feeling can be conveyed through a more formal critique.

List of Illustrations

Bibliography

[1] Lyubchenko, I. “What Is Art? NFTs, Beeple, and Art Connoisseurship in the 21st Century”. Interactive Film & Media Journal, vol. 2, no. 3, June 2022, pp. 174-90, doi:10.32920/ifmj.v2i3.1532.

[2] Vermeulen, Timotheus, and Van den Akkerr, Robin. "Notes on Metamodernism," Journal of Aesthetics and Culture, Vol. 2, (2010): 1.

[3] Vermeulen, Timotheus, and Van den Akkerr, Robin. "Notes on Metamodernism," Journal of Aesthetics and Culture, Vol. 2, (2010): 2.

[4] Ibid, 2. 

[5] Crowther, Paul. "Ontology and Aesthetics of Digital Art." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 66, no. 2 (2008): 162.

[6] Walsh, Maria. Art and Psychoanalysis, (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012).

[7] Crowther, Paul. "Ontology and Aesthetics of Digital Art." The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, vol. 66, no. 2 (2008): 162.

[8] Bal, Mieke, and Bryson, Norman. "Semiotics and Art History," The Art Bulletin, Vol. 73, No. 2 (1992): 176.

[9] Hsu, Wun-Ting and Lai, Wen-Shu. "Readymade and Assemblage in Database Art," Leonardo MIT Press, Vol. 46, No. 1 (2013): 80.

[10] Joselit, David. "NFT's, or The Readymade Reversed," October Magazine, Ltd. and Massachusettes Institute of Technology, (2021): 4.

[11] Bramantyo, Triyano. "Digital Art and the Future of Traditional Arts," Journal of Musicological Research, Vol. 1, No. 42, (2021): 99.

[12] Ibid, 100.

[13] Ibid, 101.

[14] Ibid, 101.

[15] Ibid, 104.