to realize a condition of living in the present
Does the last line of the following text mean "in order to make possible the feeling that they live in the present or, as smith says, they are up to date"?

Context:
Terry Smith has argued that our current vantage point is in many ways beyond orthodox post-modernism; certainly the global crisis precipitated by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 has distanced us in many ways from that earlier cultural moment. Furthermore, many artists recognize current injustice and social problems experienced by specific groups in order to realize a condition of living in the present or, as Smith says, of “being up-to-date” as an artist.

Question

to realize a condition of living in the present
Does the last line of the following text mean "in order to make possible the feeling that they live in the present or, as smith says, they are up to date"?

Context:
Terry Smith has argued that our current vantage point is in many ways beyond orthodox post-modernism; certainly the global crisis precipitated by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 has distanced us in many ways from that earlier cultural moment. Furthermore, many artists recognize current injustice and social problems experienced by specific groups in order to realize a condition of living in the present or, as Smith says, of “being up-to-date” as an artist.

Answer

I understand why you would be confused.  That's an awkward sentence and the meaning intended by the author is unclear.

"Furthermore, many artists recognize current injustice and social problems experienced by specific groups in order to realize a condition of living in the present or, as Smith says, of “being up-to-date” as an artist."

The phrase 'in order to' indicates that the reason that artists recognize injustice and social problems is to 'realize a condition of living in the present´which doesn't make much sense.  I think the point that the author is trying to make is that artists stay 'up-to-date' on their subjects by observing the present day challenges which specific groups experience in the modern world.

Answer

"Living in the present" and "being up-to-date" are different but have some similar roots

Living in the present - Don't think about the past or future (problems etc) just focus on what is happening now. More about an emotional connection with now.

being up-to-date - Keep in touch with what is happening now and future.  No requirement to forget the past. Less of an emotional statement that above.

The text is saying artist need to move on from the postmodern view and connect with real life problems. In my opinion that what postmodernism was doing anyway :)

Answers · 2

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