It can be said that once an era has been defined, it becomes a tool to help us understand our place as a contemporary society. We currently live in an age where everybody is scurrying about trying to coin the new era because they are sick of the bleak conclusions of post-mod. Many say that because of technology and it's exponential growth, we are at the end the Postmodern era. A hard argument because nothing is more post-mod then Facebook, Blogger, Google, and anything else that promotes getting your ideas from someone else. The best supportive argument i can think of involves faith. I know, "faith" is a word often thrown around when we don't know what's around the bend but heinsite is 20/20 and when we believe that we are already around the bend, the new era will present itself. Sure, it's not defined yet which makes it intangible, but isn't that what faith is for.
We are all part of the new constructive era, but we must tread carefully. If we believe in ourselves as individuals with unique ideas we are considered modernists, but if we combine that belief with the acceptance of post-mod ideals, we may be able to break free and embody the new era. Example. As a contemporary designer, the process go's a follows.... Two (or more) ideas come together to make one new idea. More research is done (lots of which is on Google). Ideas are thrown out and new ones emerge. That happens over and over as the process moves through sketches, models, and eventually, a final product is born. At first glance, it seems like a post-mod process. The first two ideas came from somewhere, then they were warped around by more outside ideas found on Google and other sources. So how are we able to move past the thought that there are no new ideas? Well, examine a bit closer and you'll see that once i started sketching and modeling, the project took on new life. Even if my ascetics are influenced from others, the unique combination of all data expressed in my particular form becomes unique. The same can be said for the initial ideas and secondary research. While everything that influenced this idea came from somewhere, it also went through the filter of coming from someone.
We are not looking at copies of copies, but interpretations of information. The Postmodernist has a word for this theory. It's called Perceptionism, but the optimistic view would be "Discernmentism". That person with any influence over a particular piece of information uses their own judgment in discerning what is valuable about it before passing it on to the collective. So in contrast to Postmodernism, Discernmentism insures a notion of progress. Sure, it doesn't roll of the tongue, so it is unlikely to make it into the history books and there are many educated philosophers who have better terms but until until we are decided on one, I'm promoting mine:)
