Art of Our Times: Trends and Transformations in the 21st Century

The arts of our time are characterized by an unprecedented blurring of boundaries between mediums (the "post-media" state), the widespread use of digital technologies, and the acceleration of socio-political activism. In contrast to the modernist era, which was dominated by distinct currents, such as expressionism or surrealism, art today is inherently pluralistic; it moves on the axis between the conceptual and virtual and the experiential and material ("new materialism"), combines traditional crafts with digital creation, and responds to a complex and contradictory global and local reality. While postmodernism developed post-structuralist and deconstructive concepts, contemporary culture operating in the global world seeks ways to integrate the fragmented consciousness. Our discussion will focus on three interwoven aspects: medium, art world, and current affairs. The mediumial aspect deals with medium as a "message", with the interface between science and technology, including AI, and art, and issues of "post-humanism", alongside the return to traditional mediums and interdisciplinary combinations. The "art world" aspect focuses on the cultural politics, on contemporary state of museums, galleries and the art market and their changing relationships with the audience. The actual aspect concentrates on activism, critical theory and the involvement of the arts in issues of identity, sustainability, society and politics.