Week 8 assignment: essay – interrelationships reflection apa format | Applied Sciences homework help

1. Video art is still in its infancy. If you have access to a video camera and a video mon- itor, try making a short piece of video art that avoids the techniques and clichés of commercial television. How do your friends react to it? Describe the techniques you relied upon to make your work distinct.

suMMary Television is the most widely available artistic medium in our culture. The wide- spread accessibility of video cameras and video monitors has brought television to a new position as a medium available to numerous artists, both professional and amateur. Television’s technical limitations, those of resolution and screen size, have made it distinct from film, but new technical developments are improving the quality of its imagery and its sound. Commercial television dramas have evolved their own structures, with episodic programs following a formulaic pattern of crisis points followed by commercial interruption. The British Broadcasting Corporation helped begin a novel development that distinguishes television from the commer- cial film: the open-ended serial, which avoids crisis-point interruption and permits the medium to explore richer resources of narrative. Video art is, by way of con- trast, completely anticommercial. It avoids narrative structures and alters our sense of time and expectation. Because it is in its infancy, the possibilities of video art are unlike those of any other medium. jac16871_ch13_330-351.indd 351 12/11/17 12:06 PM Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1939 Art And Artlike In Chapter 2, we argued that a work of art is a form-content. The form of a work of art is more than just an organization of media. Artistic form clarifies, gives us insight into some subject matter (something important in our world). A work of art is revelatory of values. Conversely, an artlike work is not revelatory. It has form but lacks a form-content. But what is revelatory to one person might not be to another. What is revelatory to one culture might not be to another. As time passes, a work that was originally not understood as art may become art for both critics and the public—cave paintings, for example. It is highly unlikely that the cave painters and their society thought of their works as art. If one argues that art is entirely in the eye of the beholder, then it is useless to try to distinguish art from the artlike. But we do not agree that art is entirely in the eye of the beholder. And we think it is of paramount importance to be able to distinguish art from the artlike. To fail to do so leaves us in chaotic confusion, with- out any standards. It is surely important to keep the boundaries between art and the artlike flexi- ble, and the artlike should not be blindly disparaged. Undoubtedly, there are many artlike works—much propaganda, pornography, and shock art, for example—that Chapter 14

IS IT ART OR SOMETHING LIKE IT?

P art 3

IN T

E R

R E

L A

T IO

N S

H IP

S 352 jac16871_ch14_352-377.indd 352 12/9/17 10:31 AM 353 may deserve condemnation. But to denigrate the artlike in order to praise art is critical snobbery. For the most part, the artlike plays a very civilizing role, as does, for instance, the often marvelous beauty of crafts. To be unaware, however, of the differences between art and the artlike or to be confused about them weakens our perceptive abilities. This is especially true in our time, for we are inundated with myriad works that are labeled art, often on no better grounds than that the maker says so. Concepts (beliefs) govern percepts to some extent. Confused concepts lead to confused perceptions. The fundamental and common feature that is shared by art and the artlike is the crafting—the skilled structuring of some medium. The fun- damental feature that separates art from the artlike is the revelatory power of that crafting, the form-content, the clarification of some subject matter. But we may disagree about whether a particular work has revelatory power. The borderline be- tween art and the artlike can be very tenuous. In any case, our judgments should always be understood as debatable. We shall classify and briefly describe some of the basic types of the artlike. We will use examples mainly from the visual field, not only because that field usually cannot be shut out but also because that field seems to be the most saturated with what appears to be art. Our classifications will not be exhaustive, for the various manifestations of the artlike, especially in recent years, appear endless. Nor will our classifications be exclusive, for many kinds of the artlike mix with others. For example, folk art may be decoration and usually is a popular art. We shall briefly analyze five fundamental types of works that often are on or near the boundary of art: illustration, decoration, idea art, performance art, and virtual art (see the chart “General Guidelines for Types of ‘Artlike’ Creations”). This schema omits, especially with respect to the avant-garde, other types and many species. However, our schema provides a reasonable semblance of orga- nization to a very broad and confusing range of phenomena that rarely has been General Guidelines for Types of “Artlike” Creations Di�erences Traditional Avant-Garde I Illustration (Realism) II Decoration III Idea Art IV Performance Art V Virtual Art Folk Popular Propaganda Kitsch Works closed Establishment Craft emphasized Chance avoided Makers separate from media Audience separate from work Works open Antiestablishment Craft de-emphasized Chance invited Makers may be part of media Audience may be part of work jac16871_ch14_352-377.indd 353 12/9/17 10:31 AM 354

CHAPTER 14

addressed. The schema, furthermore, highlights the most important issues. The division between the traditional and the avant-garde points up the powerful shift in the “new art” trends beginning with Dada during World War I. The avant-garde seems to exist in every art tradition, but never has it been so radicalized as in our time. That is one reason the art of our time is so extraordinarily interesting from a theoretical perspective. We flock to exhibitions and hear, “What is going on here? This is art? You’ve got to be kidding!” Those who are conservative in approach- ing the avant-garde should remember this caution by the late Jean Dubuffet, the painter-sculptor: “The characteristic property of an inventive art is that it bears no resemblance to art as it is generally recognized and in consequence . . . does not seem like art at all.” Avant-garde works can be revelatory—they can be art, of course. But they do it in different ways from traditional art, as is indicated by the listing under “Differences” on the chart. The key: Does the work give us insight? This typology is one way of classifying works that are not revelatory, but that does not mean they cannot have useful and distinctive functions. The basic function of decoration, for example, is the enhancement of something else, making it more interesting and pleasing. The basic function of idea art is to make us think about art. Every work should be judged by its unique merits. We should be in a much better position now than before the study of this text to make distinctions, however tentative, between art and the art- like. It can be a fascinating and illuminating study. CONCEPTION KEY Theories Our theory of art as revelatory, as giving insight into values, may appear to be mired in a tradition that cannot account for the amazing developments of the avant-garde. Is the theory inadequate? As you proceed with this chapter, ask yourself whether the distinction between art and artlike is valid. How about useful? If not, what theory would you propose? Or would you be inclined to dismiss theories altogether? illustrAtion Realism An illustration is almost always realistic; that is, the images closely resemble some object or event. Because of this sharing of realistic features, the following are grouped under “Illustration” in the chart: folk art, popular art, propaganda, and kitsch. The structure of an illustration portrays, presents, or depicts some object or event as the subject matter. We have no difficulty recognizing that wax figures in a museum are meant to represent famous people. But do realistic portrayals give us something more than presentation? Some significant interpretation? If we are cor- rect in thinking not, then the forms of these wax figures only present their subject matter. They do not interpret their subject matter, which is to say they lack content or artistic meaning. Such forms—providing their portrayals are realistic—produce illustration. They are not artistic forms. They are not form-content. jac16871_ch14_352-377.indd 354 12/9/17 10:31 AM

The following experience happened to one of the authors:

On entering a large room in the basement gallery of the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany, I noticed a woman standing by a large pillar staring at an abstract painting by Frank Stella. She seemed to be having an exceptionally intense participative experience with the Stella. After a few participative experiences of my own with the Stella and some other paintings in that room, I was amazed to find the lady still entranced. My curiosity was aroused. Summoning courage, I moved very close to find that the “woman” was in fact a sculpture—the trompe l’oeil was almost unbelievable, becoming recognizable only within a few feet. Very few visitors in that gallery made my amusing discovery. And when they did, they too were amazed and amused, but no one’s attention was held on this lady very long. Any concentrated attention was given to the technical details of the figure. Was the hair real? Were those real fingernails? We decided they were. The form of the sculpture seemed to be less than artistic, apparently revealing nothing about women or anything else, except for exceptional craftsmanship. The late Duane Hanson’s Woman with a Purse is so extraordinarily realistic that it is a “substitute,” a duplicate of the real thing. Is Woman with a Purse an example of art or the artlike? We will return to this ques- tion later in this chapter. Folk Art There is no universally accepted definition of folk art. Most experts agree, however, that folk art is outside fine art or what we simply have been calling art. Unfortu- nately, the experts offer little agreement about why. Folk artists usually are both self-taught and trained to some extent in a nonpro- fessional tradition. Although not trained by “fine artists,” folk artists sometimes are directly influenced by the fine-art tradition, as in the case of Henri Rousseau, who was entranced by the works of Picasso. Folk art is never aristocratic or dictated by the fashions of the artistic establishment, and it is rarely fostered by patrons. Folk art is an expression of the folkways of the “plain society,” the average person. Folk art generally is commonsensical, direct, naive, and earthy. The craft or skill that produces these things is often of the highest order. The snapshot aesthetic of photography is, in a sense, folk art because even before Kodak’s Brownie Camera was introduced in 1900 people had been taking photo- graphs without any training about composition or balance and content. The snap- shot is an unmeditated “instant” image valued usually as a record of a person or a place and not as a work of art. Richard Estes’s Baby Doll Lounge (Figure 14-2) is not a photograph. This very large oil painting may be a copy of a photograph that, if we saw it, we would consider a snapshot. It shows a simple street scene with a car close to its center, but without the Baby Doll Lounge, which, according to the title, is the subject of the original photo. Estes is not a folk painter. He is highly skilled and well trained. The photograph is an accurate rendering of the snapshot (therefore also the scene). Is this painting art or artlike? 355 PERCEPTION KEY Woman with a Purse Is Figure 14-1 a photograph of a real woman? An illustration? A work of art? FIGURE 14-1 Duane Hanson, Woman with a Purse. 1974. This is one of a group of life-size, totally realistic fiberglass “counterfeits” of real people. They represent a sculptural trompe l’oeil that blurs the line between art and life. Art: ©Estate of Duane Hanson/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photo: ©AKG London jac16871_ch14_352-377.indd 355 12/9/17 10:31 AM 356

CHAPTER 14

Henri Rousseau painted seriously from age forty-nine, when he retired on a small pension from the customs house to paint full time. He studied paintings in French museums and made every effort to paint in the most realistic style of the day. He was sometimes the butt of ironic comments that overpraised his work, but instead of taking offense, he seems to have accepted such comments as sin- cere. Picasso gave a dinner in his honor in 1908, two years before Rousseau died, and some commentators feel Picasso may have been mildly ironic in his praise. Rousseau painted animals he had seen only in zoos or in dioramas in natural his- tory museums, and sometimes he painted animals together that could never have shared the same space. His sense of perspective was lacking throughout his career, and his approach to painting was marked by odd habits, such as painting all one color first, then bringing in the next color, and so on. However, his lack of skill came at a time in art history when Surrealism was under way, and his particular unrealities began to seem symbolic and significant in ways that a realistic painting, such as Estes’s Baby Doll Lounge, could not. This is especially true of The Sleeping Gypsy (Figure 14-3), which improbably places a strange-looking lion next to a gypsy whose position is so uncertain as to suggest that he or she may roll out of the paint- ing. Rousseau’s intention was to make the painting totally realistic, but the result is more schematic and suggestive than realistic. FIGURE 14-2 Richard Estes, Baby Doll Lounge. 1978. Oil on canvas, 3 × 5 feet. Estes, who painted in oils, created a style that emulated photography but tried to outdo it. ©Richard Estes, courtesy Marlborough Gallery, New York. Photo: ©Christie’s Images Ltd - Artothek PERCEPTION KEY Richard Estes and Henry Rousseau 1. Which painting exhibits more skill? Is it skill that determines which of these paint- ings is more artlike? 2. How important is accuracy of representation to deciding whether a painting is art? 3. Which painting is more useful as an illustration? jac16871_ch14_352-377.indd 356 12/9/17 10:31 AM 357

IS IT ART OR SOMETHING LIKE IT?

Popular Art Popular art—a very imprecise category—encompasses contemporary works enjoyed by the masses. The masses love Norman Rockwell, dismiss Mondrian, and are puz- zled by Picasso. In music Shostakovich and John Cage sometimes mystify the gen- eral public. But lovers of Beethoven string quartets often find it difficult to love heavy metal rock bands and rap music. The reverse is true, as well. The distinction between fine art and popular art does not always hold people back from enjoying both, but it seems to be rare. The term “Pop” derives from Richard Hamilton’s painting Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different so appealing? (1956), of a nude muscle-builder hold- ing a gigantic lollypop in a cluttered living room with a nude woman on a sofa wearing a lampshade for a hat. In the 1960s and 1970s, Pop Art was at the edge of the avant-garde, startling to the masses. But as usually happens, time makes the avant-garde less controversial, and in this case the style quickly became popular. The realistic showings of mundane objects were easily comprehended. Here was an FIGURE 14-3 Henri Rousseau, The Sleeping Gypsy. 1897. Oil on canvas, 51 × 79 inches. Rousseau was a customs agent during the day but a painter in his free time. Although without training in art, he became one of the most original figures in modern art. ©The Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY