Context of Practice 2 Proposal
Research question for COP 2 • “Where is art heading and will a standard definition of art fade”
Rationa le During COP 2, I will focus on elements and topics I’ve explored in COP 1, as well as themes related to these topics that have a possible effect on them that alters the way they are applied and viewed. It will explore the connection between society, commercialism and mass production as the main subjects which affects and alters all art forms. Researching a wider group of sources will extend my understanding of these topics, as well as a larger focus on the reason of their existence and evolution in a historical context. It will also aim to resolve the problem of art establishments power over what’s presented as praiseworthy ‘pure’ art. Researching further into conceptualism will provide me with more knowledge of its appeal. Beginning the research with reading about Marcel Duchamp will inform me of the initial principles and ideas as to why this shift in art appeared. This direction is taken out of my curiosity of where art is going in the modern world, it’s constant shifting into more simplified forms that are the ones most often praised by their brilliance. Way in which the art world is losing its identity as an individual form which comments on topics of society and instead becoming directly attached to these matters.
Related Subjects
• Mass production • Consumerism • Focus on concept and theory • Artist status • Art as a form of protest and comment on controversial subjects
Quotes • “For many centuries, up until the mid nineteenth century, architecture, painting and sculpture were the three principal visual arts of Europe. These arts flourished because they received substantial patronage from the most powerful and wealthy individuals, groups and institutions within European society, that is, kings, princes, aristocrats, the Church, merchants, national governments, city councils and guilds. Today the situation is very different: our culture is not dominated by the fine arts but by the mass media. ” (Walker. J, Art in the Age of Mass Media,2001) • ”Can works be made that are not ‘of art’? (Duchamp. M, Late Night Line-Up, 1968) • “During the First World War, for example, movie cameras were used for the first time to record trench warfare – when the film was shown in cinemas in Britain, audiences ran out screaming. This led to the government censoring further such use of such a powerful medium. And in government censorship, and use of art as propaganda, we see how seriously governments take the effect of art.” (Theory of Knowledge) • “The meaning of traditional sacred art became obscure; medieval works that once catechized the unlettered now require written commentary to interpret.” (Mitsui, D , The Catholic World Report, 2017) •
” I did comic strips and ads. A great many artists were working on different ideas at the same time. Things just fell together to create the Pop Art movement.” (Warhol,A, Cavalier,1966)
Books
Mass Production, Modernism and design by Henry Ford (1994)
Being Human in a Consumerism Society by Alejandro Néstor García Martínez (2015)
Books
Art in the Age of Mass Media by John Walker (2001)
After the End of Art:Â Contemporary Art and the Pale of History by Arthur C.Danto (2014)
Marcel Duchamp Artist of the Century by Rudolf E. Kuenzli, Francis M. Naumann (1991)
Website s • https://www.artrenewal.org/ (An institution working towards restoring principles of realism in traditional art) • http://www.huckmagazine.com/art-and-culture/art-2/interviewed-dad-tracey-emins-bed/ (an interview by Shelly Jones with her dad and his views on Tracey Emins ‘My Bed’. •
https://www.theguardian.com/global/shortcuts/2015/oct/27/modern-art-is-rubbish-why-mistaking -artworks-for-trash-proves-their-worth (article by The Guardian)
• http://www.lacma.org/ (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) • https://www.rt.com/op-edge/315210-digital-selfie-kill-photography/ (article about the use of photography)
Image s
Fountain by Marcel Duchamp,1917
Jenny Holzer, Siena 2009
Image s
Eugene Atget
(Image from the internet) A potential work of art
Image s
A photo of mass production