The crux of postmodernity is that there are two “presents”. One is a “spectre” present, a Virtual Reality techno-media simulacrum that makes the other “real” present appear borderline, fugitive, elusive.

This overview manages to cover an immense amount of ground from structuralism to architecture to the commodification of knowledge itself (where knower becomes consumer). The virtual and the idealized present a kind of hyper-reality towards which "real life" tries to either catch up or emulate. Consumer objects like athletic shoes take on a life of their own as status symbols now almost entirely divorced from any concept of "sports." The market appropriates and commodifies everything from data to experience funded by constant financial flows invisibly crossing borders and timezones almost instantaneously.

Postmodernism as both concept and term seems inherently contradictory, amorphous, and slippery. And yet it does seem to capture some changes to culture/art/life not readily captured by other terms/theories. An irony and relativity unraveling grand narratives and dominated by image/video.