11/12 Jameson

 In Frederic Jameson’s essay titled, Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, he discusses concepts of postmodern architecture as a form of expression that shapes the world to an extent. It is a cultural dominant, and by this, we can infer that Jameson is trying to address that in “late capitalism” we see structures so grand and so momentous that there is a correlation with cultural norms and trends that are linked directly to the grand structures. It is about understanding geometric patterns as well as the spaces that they fit in to. For example, we see a building that looks quite futuristic with many curves and high glass walls, we know that this is a piece of modern architecture. This sets the tone for inspiration and more to follow in the footsteps. 

The production of aesthetics will always have influencers and be influenced to create new trends. Objects and shapes provide more structural reorganization. Jameson mentioned, “What has happened is that aesthetic production today has become integrated into commodity production generally: the frantic economic urgency of producing fresh waves of ever more novel-seeming goods (from clothing to airplanes), at ever greater rates of turnover, now assigns an increasingly essential structural function and position to aesthetic innovation and experimentation” (Jameson, 1984, p. 409). Although Jameson is quite difficult to boil down, this quote sheds some light on his concepts of aesthetic production and the influence that the reproduction of commodities does on society. 

Lastly, Jameson offers how art and culture commodify symbols and gestures within art. This is through what he calls, The Waning of Affect. He chooses the best example as human beings are commodified as symbols within the culture itself, in turn marking its territory within capitalism. For a final quote, Jameson offers, “The waning of affect is, however, perhaps best initially approached by way of the human figure, and it is obvious that what we have said about the commodification of objects holds as strongly for Warhol’s human subjects, stars - like Marilyn Monroe - who are themselves commodified and transformed into their own images” (Jameson, 1984, p. 412).