Avant Garde

The avant-garde falls within the modern period and it too is concerned with modernization (industrialisation / technological change) and modernity (cosmopolitan, everyday life) – but it is at odds with modernism (functionalism / unity/ art for art’s sake). 

One of the hallmarks of the avant-garde is ‘discontinuity’; hence it requires an active rather than passive participation of the spectator.

We also noted that the period after 1960 is generally referred to as the post-modern. If an avant-garde practice can be said to continue after 1960 it is referred to as the neo-avant-garde.

Paris

This view of Paris shows the long straight and wide boulevards that radiate from key points in the urban landscape. This characteristic plan is the result of Haussmannisation. Paris in the early 19^th c was prone to cholera outbreaks that devastated the population. The principal cause of these outbreaks was the sewerage system that poured foul water upstream into the Seine. The rationale for Haussmann’s plan was clean water. But there was another political motive – the suppression of revolt.