Quote 9 - Christopher Grunenberg

"The return by many contemporary artists to the use of clay signals not only a rejection of those values associated with Modernism, but also a visceral concern for the materiality of experience at a time when many cultural commentators are talking about the death of the concrete object in favour of the new virtual world of the information era." Christopher Grunenberg

When I first read this quote, I was quite confused by it, and didn't really get the meaning of it, and what the relation was between the quote and myself. To be honest, even after a second and third read through, I still thought this. Now, however, I can see a relationship between the quote and myself, and the meaning behind it.

I do, to some extent, agree with this quote, that the use of materials such as clay, does signal a rise in the appreciation and use of "concrete objects" instead of the ever-changing, ever-improving world of information technology. I think that this is inevitable, though, because, like with everything, the digital v. traditional side has a cycle, and they take it in turns to come back into 'fashion' and go out of 'fashion'. I don't agree with the first part of the quote, where it says "...the use of clay signals...a rejection of those values associated with Modernism...". I don't believe that it is rejecting the values of Modernism, but that it is a adding a new 'branch' to the Modernist 'tree.'