Art Exhibit Breathes Life Into Postmodernism

Cinzia Ruggeri is trying to bring postmodernism back into art, culture, and the critical minds of her viewers. According to Cinzia, although postmodern doctrines are constants in our lives, it has diminished from art greatly. Recently, her exhibit “New Wave” starred in the Swiss National Museums exhibit “Postmodernism”. She placed furniture and disassembled furniture inside a room along with a dress that is both a dress and a staircase. She uses bright colors and neon lights throughout the exhibit. She plays with the combination of art, fashion, and furniture while incorporating new use of color and juxtaposition.

By disassembling furniture, Cinzia is conveying the postmodern idea of questioning everyday objects and in a sense what we accept to be true. By disassembling it, in a way she is asking if a chair is a chair or just assembled wood we call “chair”. She appeals to the nontraditional more revolutionary aspect of postmodernism in her combination of a dress and the common household staircase. She is combining to very simple ordinary things to become something totally new and blurring the lines of fashion and architecture. She also has a very unique viewing experience. She asks her audience to sit on bouncy balls and view her exhibits from three different viewing locations. This questions the two dimensionality of art and what the meaning of art is, therefore the viewing experience of the art itself is postmodern.