Part 1: On the evolution of our contemporary state

How contemporary events have amplified our metamodern state

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is first in a three-part series titled On The Evolution of Our Contemporary State. The series is the work of Christopher Campbell, an intern with Saint Philip’s in the Hills, Tucson, during the summer of 2020.

What is metamodernism? We have heard the terms modernism and postmodernism, but with the current global climate how can we describe our state of being both in art and culture? In this first part of the three-part series On The Evolution of Our Contemporary State we will look at what metamodernism is, its relation to the modern and postmodern, and discuss how it may fit well to describe this time we now live in.

Together we will break down some of the difficulties we are currently faced with and define terms to help us better understand both the world we live in and how we may fit into it.

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In Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker's 2017 paper ‘Notes on metamodernism’ an attempt to understand our contemporary condition in art is described: "We will call this discourse, oscillating between a modern enthusiasm and a postmodern irony, metamodernism." What we see today seems to be a heightened aspect of this state of being; in the midst of a global pandemic, which comes in a year that has continuously seen so much tumult and turmoil. There seems to exist in us the same oscillation which Vermeulen and Akker describe:

Ontologically, metamodernism oscillates between the modern and the postmodern. It oscillates between a modern enthusiasm and a postmodern irony, between hope and melancholy, between naïveté and knowingness, empathy and apathy, unity and plurality, totality and fragmentation, purity and ambiguity. Indeed, by oscillating to and fro or back and forth, the metamodern negotiates between the modern and the postmodern. One should be careful not to think of this oscillation as a balance; however, rather, it is a pendulum swinging between 2, 3, 5, 10, innumerable poles. Each time the metamodern enthusiasm swings toward fanaticism, gravity pulls it back toward irony; the moment its irony sways toward apathy, gravity pulls it back toward enthusiasm.

We see this in the chaos of our news and the chaos of our lives, which drive us to a sense of panic. And for some of us, this means an active panic; preparing for the end of the world! And for others, perhaps most, a passive panic that is more of a subliminal anxiety. We all know that something is not right in this world, perhaps it never has been, but at this moment this subliminal anxiety has been brought to the surface.

Yet still, we joke about our situation, comment on how "funny" all this is. Our sense of irony helps us quell our fear. We share memes and off-hand remarks about "toilet-paper shortages" and "authoritarian governments". But all of this still remains in our mind as fears for our future. What will happen to us now, to our loved ones? And what does the future hold if and when we make it through this?

However, recently we have seen hope arise (as we are still yet assured the sun will). Early on, in Italy, where it seemed all hope should have been banished, people sang together from balconies. And choirs throughout the world continue to use the internet to join together in song. Galleries and opera houses have opened their virtual doors to allow everyone an offering of hope and enthusiasm. Even at Saint Philip’s our “Way of Love Art Show has scheduled a virtual opening in October.

We see the best parts of humanity shine in these seemingly dark times as we see CEOs sacrifice their pay for their employees, and communities join together in any way they can. With despair we find ways of expressing hope.

Christopher Campbell