1. MATRIX postmodern turn Guankoi . Hongyi . Jonathan . Tanyang . Tingkai . Zhiwei

2. THEORY • One of the stages in the development of the cultural movements of mankind • Defines the thought and culture present in the 20th and 21st centuries (after the First World War) • Preceded by the Modernist tendency, and in turn antedated Post-postmodernism.

3. DEATH OF MODERNISM • Systemic contradiction in context of capitalism • Artists seek to pursue purely aesthetic goals by freeing art from extraneous influences • religion, morality, politics etc • However, the important role they played in consumer culture of capitalist markets brought a need to produce populist and attractive products for the mass market • This was seen as a corruption of artistic ideals

4. DEATH OF MODERNISM • Split into two opposing, polarized forms • 1. Formalist • concerned about pure artistic expression • 2. Avant-garde • aspired to effect radical and revolutionary societal change by subverting dominant ideologies

5. DEATH OF MODERNISM • The conclusion of WWI led to a global rise of facism, socialism and authoritarianism • decline of the role of the arts • Avant-garde modernism had failed to eradicate repressive ideologies and institutions • Formalist modernism was stripped of its critical, innovative edge and reduced to a pragmatic and functional utility in society • mass media (advertisements, propaganda), design etc

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12. IN THE MATRIX Man VS. Machine • Reversal of circumstances – the traditional human domination over machine has been inverted as machines now rule over humans • Blurring of line between man and machine and relevant hierarchy of power

13. IN THE MATRIX Techno-culture and Hyper-real • Ubiquity of mass media and the subsequent explosion of information causes our understanding of the human world to be mediated by simulations of the world • The conceptual boundary between reality and simulation has been blurred and the simulation replaces the real world

14. IN THE MATRIX Paranoia • Postmodernism builds on the anarchist nature of avant-garde modernism to create a world of apathy and meaninglessness • In The Matrix, the reign of chaos in the absence of a governing system renders the search for order fruitless and absurd

15. IN THE MATRIX Zionism • Reference to the belief of the right of Jews to unite and govern themselves, and the struggle against its hostile neighbours • In The Matrix, Zion is the final human city surrounded by enemies of a different species