article

Reconstructivism is a post-deconstructionist philosophy that advocates conscious rebuilding of reality, particularly creating new and improved versions of conventional, oppressive or outmoded structures. Commonly this is seen as recombining or recontextualizing the ideas arrived at by deconstruction -- in other words, an existing system or medium is broken down into its smallest meaningful elements, and these elements are used to build a new system or medium free from the strictures of the original.

The term is closely associated with the social and educational philosophy of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, who believed that children should be educated towards the goal of widespread social reform. Another reconstructivist, John Dewey, is noted for stating that each generation of children should reinvent democracy for itself, and each child should be taught to use critical thinking to create for himself the ideal world he wishes to live into, rather than passively accept what has already existed.

Reconstructivist Art

The term "reconstructivism" has also been applied to at least two recent artistic movements:

1. The reinformation movement which imposes new levels of meaning and aesthetic judgement on preexisting datastreams.

2. The Christian Existential Humanist' "Reconstructivist Art" style, which applies classic aesthetic structures to deconstructed art elements. This movement shares educational reconstructivism's goal of widespread social reform.

Reconstructivist art can be described as any work that has the following attributes:

  • Self-Awareness: A reconstructivist work knows that it is a work of artifice. However, unlike deconstructionism, reconstructivism is not self-aware primarily for ironic purpose.

  • Conventional Structure: Reconstructivist art is recognizably based on the format and structure of existing forms, no matter how far from the median they travel.

  • Transcontextualism: Breaking the artform down into the smallest meaningful parts and then using them in new contexts tends to result in work with iconic components out of their usual element, prompting the viewer/reader/listener to new insights into the nature and meaning of these iconic elements.

  • Moments of Realness: Despite a tendency toward the bizarre, the surreal or the self-aware, emotionally and personally, reconstructivist work is emotionally genuine.

Examples of Reconstructivist Art

While it is uncommon for an artist to claim the reconstructivist title, some works that exemplify the ideal of reconstructivism are listed below:

See also

deconstruction, reconstructionism, reinformation, Christian existential humanism

External links

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Reconstructivism".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world