Global Digital Postmodernity

A video documentation of the planning and execution of one of the most successful and famous flash mobs in history. The group Improv Everywhere, known for their flash mob stunts, rose to fame with this "mission"- having all the participants go into Grand Central Station in New York City and freeze for several minutes, then resume regular life without a blink. Using elements of performance art and postmodern theatre, as well as an extensive use of various technologies to pull it all off, this playful stunt is a prime example of the postmodern flash mob phenomenon.

Here, on Lady Gaga's official youtube channel, can be found all of her official music videos, as well as live performances, interviews, behind the scenes videos, and video messages from Gaga to her fans. A single viewing of any one of her music videos, and you will know you're watching something beyond that of your typical pop star. With her blending of performance art, intense theatrics, technology, wild fashion, futuristic elements, playfulness, fluid sexuality and sexual orientation, and with her rise as a pop culture phenomenon, Lady Gaga, as evidenced in her youtube videos, has become all things postmodern.

This website provides 9 main techniques/elements used and found in postmodern pieces of theatre, as well as providing a brief history of the movement. However, it also warns that postmodern theatre tends to reject labels of genre and style, so that none of the techniques may be present in a particular play and it could still be considered a postmodern piece. The unifying postmodern thread, instead, is that they are tools to make audiences raise questions and reflect on their own lives and experiences. Along with providing these definitions, the site also offers some examples of landmark postmodern pieces, such as Sam Shepard's "Buried Child" and Onzo Production's "Fuerza Bruta", and provides links to learn more about them.

This website was created by students at the University of Alabama. It has basic definitions of the concept, examples, criticisms and comparisons with modernity. The chart that compares postmodernity and modernity is very lucid. Extensive bibliography.

For sometime, it has been accepted that biology and the study of life has lost significance and touch with particular aspects of life. This article suggests that this is not the case. If one was to study the work of several "cyberscience" scientists, one finds that technology is in fact is able to open entire new avenues of study in relation to biology. A few examples are the study of God as well as sex, specifically as a substitution for God. These two subjects have created much tension in the scientific as well as theological communities. This article looks at the biological results of these issues. Although the issues studied may be controversial, the scientific and technological advancements that made them possible cannot be. In a Post Modern era, we take things as common as biology, and use our ever-progressing modes of technology to study concepts that were once thought to be completely unrelated to the sciences.

Sexting has become a culture phenomenon, but what is it exactly? This website describes it as sending pictures or photographs of explicit nature electronically. They have surfaced as a result of the advancement in technology in communication. The article reports that sexting appeared as early as 2005. Cases of sexting have been reported in several countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Many legal cases have been filed in the United States, where child pornography charges have been brought up. Depending on the nature of the "sext," charges can constitute a fine, or a misdemeanor. According to the article, sexting has also appeared in popular culture, such as the television drama program Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

David Harvey claims that the concept of the time-space compression is "likely the root of the post modern condition." The time-space compression is basically what it sounds like. With the advancement of technology, time and space are no longer feats for people. We can communicate with anyone around the globe and the communication can be instantaneous. While at one point in time we had to send letters, and then eventually phone calls, we can now do things such as "skyping," and other modes of communication that simulate a lack of time lapse and special distance. This website also talks about the megalopolis, or large, continuous metropolitan city, which is a "product of the phenomenon of universalization." Paul Ricoeur comments that while "this may be an advancement, it may also be destructive."

When Post Modernity is connected with pheonomenons such as sexting, it gives the whole concept a very negative connotation. Post Modernity is often thought of as the opposite of modernity, but it really is not that extreme. Post Modernity creates an emphasis on the gray middle ground. This website gives insight to where the negative slant against Post Modernity comes from. The very beginning of the article stands out with the proclamation, "Post Modernity is the denial of any standards." Students are also described as being "apathetic," "skeptical," "board," and "lacking idealism." This website has a very slanted view, however, it will provide insight for those who may not understand why sexting and Post Modernity receive such a bad reputation.

The evolution of technology affects all aspects of life. What some people fail to realize is how it has affected the sexual nature of society. What the advancement of the personal computer, and its prevalence in homes, the availability of porn began to change sex significantly. This article discusses not only Cyberporn, but how components of Post Modern society has been a significant component in its frequency. It also looks into new sexual trends such as male masochism, and delves into possible explanations for the cultural phenomenon. With a new sexual phenomenon known as "sexting," becoming more popular, it is important to look at other sexual trends that have been connected to technology and Post Modernity in the past.

It is important to note postmodernity is impacting all aspects of culture, especially the arts. This YouTube video is a clip from an episode of a Canadian television show titled Slings and Arrows. In this segment, the acting teacher is taking a new approach with his students while rehearsing a scene from Romeo and Juliet. The female student is asked to do unconventional things, like read for Romeo and not face Juliet. She is rather unwilling to try what her director asks of her. She, like many, are stuck in the cultural norms and perhaps consumed with modern ideals. She likes the structure of old methods. Switching genders is an example of the exploration of form and content. The scene is still the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, but the form has changed as the actors switch roles. The director of this television show seems to be making a statement. We need to embrace changes in form, ultimately embracing postmodernity.

This website involves a group of categories of how post modernism has influenced the arts, from architecture to literature and music and even political science. It shows that post modernism is not just a made up word but rather a style which is to be perfected, even if it means being imperfect as some things are. The website even discusses how post modernity is affecting language, where "the changing relationship between diction and discourse" is influenced by what is considered post modern. Then it discusses art and how its aims to upset and recreate the fundamentals of what makes something art. This is a general principle of post modernity because in most cases anything that is considered post modern goes against the grain of what is considered within the set standards of its category and this website does an excellent job of describing the characteristics it breaks down.

Dan Ackerman Greenberg is co-founder of the Commotion Group, a company that has found great success by promoting online videos in an effort to make them go "viral." Today, more and more people are seeking fame and recognition through online communities like YouTube. Dan Ackerman Greenberg provides a series of steps and advice to follow when creating and promoting a video. This online posting is very postmodern, because it exemplifies the breakdown of hierarchy. One used to rely on a publicist or agent to promote oneself. Now, anyone can do it themselves. The fact that a promotion company is offering advice to the masses on how to succeed alone own is particularly postmodern.

It used to be that only a select number of people could achieve celebrity status. Typically those involved in film, athletics, and politics were the only people to reach such heights. Dr. Jean M. Twenge and Dr. W. Keith Campbell explore the depths and consequences of self-admiration. They argue that becoming a celebrity is now an "equal opportunity dream," especially due to the development of the Web. Narcissism is natural and the wealth of technologies at our disposal make it so simple for anyone to achieve fame. This is a postmodern cause and effect. The increase of media and web technologies made available to the masses break down hierarchies. Fame is no longer just for the privileged few.

This book by Frederick Levy explores the phenomenon that YouTube has become in our world. He addresses YouTube's history, as well as the direction in which the viral video craze is headed. One section of particular interest is titled, "Culture Shock." Levy presents an interesting idea of community through the Web. The thing that makes the YouTube revolution so post-modern is the fact that a sense of community develops through the internet. People around the world can interact and connect with one another with virtually no face-to-face contact. This trend breaks down social norms and cultural expectations previously placed on a community.

Steven Best and Douglas Kellner provide a concise explanation of just what postmodernity is in the introduction of their book. This section, appropriately titled, "Between the Modern and the Postmodern," explains how our culture has transitioned between the two. Cultural definitions, structures, and ideals are being transformed in all aspects of life. These changes are due largely in part to the growth of technology and the way it is presented and used. "Bombardment" and "fragmentation" are two poignant and descriptive words that accurately summarize how postmodern society experiences day-to-day life. The title of the book also clues the reader in to the authors' opinion of postmodernity. It is an adventure. One that has many more advancements ahead of it.

The Group Improv Everywhere is postmodern because it takes theater out of the domain of a room with a stage and into the streets but that is not the only reason it is post modern, the performance itself (for the most part) is not staged but simply an idea. Another reason is that the people who participate in the missions find out about the event on the internet using a technology that is post modern because besides the internet there is no other way to find out about the missions or to see them unless someone captures it on a camera and then posts it on a website like Youtube. The main mission of the group was to bring performance art out of the theater and while that has always been around the general chaos (be it good or bad) and lack of plan that occurs in an event is what makes it post modern.

The MP3 Experiment is a mission designed by the group Improv Everywhere where participants all started in one location and listened to an MP3 track designed by the group. The participants were then told to perform tasks such as following around a german tourist or having a battle in the field of bats versus hammers. The idea of this mission created by Charlie Todd a graduate of the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill, the creator of Improv Everywhere was to allow participants to have a unique and enjoyable experience. This video has ties to post modernity because it uses technology as a method of organization and communication, because the entire mission was set up online and there was no face-to-face individual interaction. Another aspect of this video that was postmodern was that the mission's art was in the creating of art and not the art itself like in modern works where only the viewers experienced it, but the participants experienced it as well.

Whether you think flash mobs are postmodern or not, and there is much debate over it, the different ways that flash mobs are used can also be post modern or modern. A company using the idea of a flashmob to sell their product is a typically modern idea used my advertising and marketing agencies. On the other hand, a company such as T-Mobile participating in the flash mobs phenomenon is more postmodern. Their flash mobs are large, quirky and people of all ages and sizes can participate. They don't leave a bad commercial-after taste in your mouth, but instead, make you want to share what you just observed. Just as the T Mobile commercial says: Life is for sharing, and like normal flashmob, they are creating something to share. Post modernity is sometimes referred to as a reply to modernity, and these T Mobile flash mobs could be a reply to the modern way of using flash mobs, saying "hey look, we can play too without tarnishing the essence of the original!"

The above exert gives an interesting theory on how the postmodern era and economy are parallel to that of the Middle Ages. One of the points made is the lack of authority and control. "The Middle Ages lacked the singular relationship between authority and territory characteristic of the modern era; geographic location did not determine identity and loyalty (Hirst and Thompson, 1995; Spruyt, 1994) . Overlapping and competing political authorities were the norm rather than the exception (Kobrin 12)." This is similar to the current economy existing on the internet. It is possible to buy basically anything from dvds to drugs on the internet and the government has no way of controlling it. In modern times, the only way to buy something was from a store. Now with the world wide web, it is possible to buy everything on the internet, even weekly groceries or a couch from India. The exert also discusses the idea of how "the clear separation between the private and public realms and the very idea of distinct private and public property may be tied to a specific, perhaps exceptional, historical era. The distinction was not relevant in pre-modern times and it may not be relevant in the postmodern future (Kobrin 25)." I think this applies well to global digital postmodernism if you consider the pictures on the web and all the information available to the masses.

There is a new show out this fall on abc called Modern Family. However, it should more correctly be called "Postmodern Family". The show is a sitcom that plays out as if it is a documentary about this family consisting of an older father and his very young second wife and her son, and then the older father's two children's families: one being a women and her pretty normal nuclear family, and the other being a homosexual son, his partner and their new adopted baby girl from Asia. Although it claims to be "modern", this family structure is more post modern because it does not match the typical equation "mom+dad=kids". Although the depiction of step parents and families has been on TV since the Brady Bunch, homosexuals (especially ones with children) are a relatively new occurrence on prime time. In the modern era, the nuclear family and heterosexual norms are predominate and more socially acceptable; postmodernity makes room for and accepts these new forms of families. Perhaps the abc network called it "Modern Family" because to the general public the word modern is usually associated with "new" and unique, (which the family structure portrayed on the show is) and were afraid that the title "Postmodern Family" would be to intimidating to potential viewers.