From Essences to Flat Ontologies: Recontextualizing Modernist Thought for the Present

In terms of connecting seemingly disparate strands of thought relating to modernism and modernity, Philobiblon’s special issue edited by Amalia Cotoi and Alexandru Matei, “Modernism and Bruno Latour. For a Resumption of Modernity” (2023), made a resounding start. Yet Latour’s relationism will always be at odds with the purity, stability and autonomy characterizing certain models of modernism, particularly the formalist modernism envisioned by Clement Greenberg. In this article, I will explore a flat ontology that resolves this problem, namely object-oriented ontology (OOO). It emphasizes the nonrelational autonomy of objects, in the same way as Greenberg’s modernism emphasizes compositional elements such as line and colour over and above context, disregarding any social or political relations or associations the work might have. As I will suggest, OOO connects with modern art and modernism on multiple levels, testifying to modernism’s ongoing relevance.