Post Class from 10/8 Class

 “As for the artists and writers who question the rules of plastic and narrative arts and possibly share their suspicions by circulating their work, they are destined to have little credibility in the eyes of those concerned with ‘reality’ and ‘identity’; they have no guarantee of an audience.”

During class on 10/8, we discussed this quote from Lyotard’s writing. We came to the conclusion that the quote meant that artists who challenge the basic standards of the arts are not guaranteed to have an audience that pays attention to them. I am not sure if I agree with Lyotard’s argument. I believe in today’s world people are always ready for the next best thing or new, out of the ordinary things. In my opinion, today’s culture is more accepting and welcoming to the avant-garde. The avant-garde brings excitement and entertainment to people because it is different and challenges previous art forms. Also, the avant-garde brings new ideas for improvement and efficiency in the world. I believe that I can argue against Lyotard’s point by using an example of an avant-garde idea from the past that challenged the basic standards and had an audience. One example that first comes to mind is air travel. Engineers or “artists of transportation” dreamed up a new, faster way to travel around the world that would only take a number of hours to go across an ocean. This new model of transportation was so different from accepted modes of travel, but people paid attention. People paid attention to this avant-garde mode of transportation because it was different and more exciting than what they were used to. As time went on, this avant-garde mode of transportation became normalized in society. Now it is considered “reality” in terms of transportation. My point in using this example is that new ideas that are different from the normal will have an audience because of the excitement they bring and sometimes the new ideas will eventually become normalized. I believe that Lyotard is not correct in his assumption that artists that challenge classic standards will not have an audience. He underestimates humans’ need for the avant-garde and excitement.