Due to the fact that art works are social subjects and not merely aesthetic objects, they can only be meaningful when considered as part of a bigger system of principles, practices, economies and exchanges. This is why, in order to critically assess the relationship between contemporary art and popular forms of entertainment, it is necessary to analyse the context which came to undermine such distinction: capitalism and corporate imperialism.
Since the Second World War culture in a world scale has been increasingly dominated by the most consumption-oriented society in history. Capitalism stabilised in the developed nations, and in the capitalistic form of life existence is based in terms of production, distribution, exchange and consumption
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In this art we get the rush of the special effects along with the superplus value of the aesthetic.” (Foster, 2005 p.676)
This comes as no surprise, as the products of the entertainment industries have become perhaps the most powerful sources of individual commodity purchasing and of self-image acquisition in the contemporary world. Yet, this attempt to mirror the intensities of mass media leaves contemporary art in a very delicate limbo. As Gavin Turks compellingly argues: “I think art has a very difficult job at the moment because it has become aligned with the entertainment industry and, as entertainment, art is not particularly entertaining.” (Turk in Stallabrass, 2001
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Marwan did a series of paintings and drawings focusing on emblematic figures of the Arab world in which the subjects are represented in enigmatic constructions. Badr Shakir Al-Sayyab was considered one of the greatest modern poets, but ended up being prosecuted for his political engagement, condemned to be exiled and died prematurely amidst total indifference. In the painting above Al-Sayyab head appears stuck in a structure that evokes that block of a guillotine, while being crushed by a mass of flesh/viscera. Even though not particularly entertaining, this reveals a complex process of subjectification, in which self-questioning subtly echoes the forms of political struggle. The body incarnates “humanity’s lived experience of calamity in the twentieth century”(Bachi in Cotter, 2014
When Hosseini describes Hassan’s final defining physical feature, his cleft lip, he accentuates it by assigning it its own unique part of the metaphor: the doll
CONTEMPORARY QUEENSLAND ART In July, GOMA is setting up a contemporary art exhibition. The nature of the conversation between the artworks and the viewer were taken place in this exhibition. The GOMA Q present their best collection of contemporary Queensland Art. This exhibition deals with the idea of artworks are in conversation with history and identity.
The main argument discussed in this film, is that celebrities became objectified, and are no longer considered as normal human beings with dignity, as they are being chased everywhere by the paparazzi. And this is all the fault of the consumers, because they are the one who want the private lives of the celebrities to be unveiled, and the ones who feed the greed of the paparazzi. This argument is logical and effective, as it uses ethos and logos, as well as some concrete examples from the real lives of celebrities, paparazzi, filmmakers, and consumers. This issue really matters, because the consumers should be aware that their obsession with celebrities and their critical attitudes towards them are causing multiple damaging effects on media as
While reading “The Trouble with (the Term) Art,” written by Carolyn Dean in the summer of 2006, we are taken through an array of different scenarios that lead us to questions what art really is. Dean explores the idea that the word “art” is used far too often and too habitually, and that as we study the non-Western cultures we need to use much more discretion regarding what we call the different pieces of their culture. Throughout the essay, Dean supports her thesis that we too often categorize non-Western pieces as art by using different examples of how certain non-art pieces were deemed as art throughout the course of their history. Dean does this by using four key examples of how these ancient pieces are inappropriately called art to successfully support her thesis and avoid biases.
Despite both being from the same school of thought, the Frankfurt School, Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno found themselves debating the value of art in a world on the brink of war. The basis of Benjamin’s and Adorno’s argument was not a critique of the art itself, but rather ever-growing trend of the reproduction of art. For Benjamin, as described in, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, the reproduction of art and the novelty of film, which stemmed from technological marvels, was a natural progression and a detractor to the growing fascist presence. However, for Adorno, as discussed in “The Fetish Character of Music and the Regression in Listening”, the simplification of art, specifically music, to a mass producible
The American film industry is one of the world’s greatest cultural forces, and it is also the driving force of the entertainment industry as an oppressive machine. First of all, film forcefully incorporates people into the system of commodity fetishism and consumerism. The cinema, especially the industrial cinema, has a strong relationship with the commodity. Films are themselves commodities and they also constantly put commodities on display. When watching movies people are bombarded with an endless stream of images of commodities.
Popular Culture I Öğr. Gör. Gülbin Kıranoğlu The Capitalist and Patriarchal Elements in the Products of Popular Culture Betül Kılıç 110111077
Hassan works through the themes of, families bring comfort and conflict, defining moments and finding my way, and man’s inhumanity to man. “ I forbid you to do this!” Baba bellowed. “Do you hear me ? I forbid you” (Hosseini 107)!
The book My Name is Red, published by Turkish writer Orham Pamuk in 1998 and translated into English in 2001, presents a story set in Istanbul during the reign of Sultan Murat III in the 16th century. Covering a timeframe of about nine days, two main events set the story forward: the murder of the renowned illuminator Elegant and the return to Istanbul of Black after being in exile for 12 years. Instead of telling the story from one single point of view, the plot is narrated by multiple people who are identified in the title of each chapter. Pamuk also examines the cultural tension between the East and the West by centering it on two different theories of art. On one side is the Western style of portraiture and on the other the Eastern miniature tradition.
Whilst in exile in the USA key theorists Max Horkheimer and T.W. Adorno developed an account of the “culture industry” calling attention to how industrialized and commercialized culture had become under capitalist relations of production. This observation was most evident through the overwhelmingly low level of state support for film and television industries. Mass culture was highly commercialised which was a key facture in determining a capitalist society. This became a focus of critical cultural
The art of appropriation is to take possession of something. Appropriation artists deliberately copy images to take possession of them in their art. These artists are not stealing, plagiarizing or passing off these images as their own. They want the viewer to recognise the images they copy, and bring their own interpretation, with the image to the artist’s new context; whether it’s a painting, sculpture, or collage. Appropriation started and has been around ever since art began.
Therefore, in the perspective of understanding materialist art history by the discussion focused on the labor of the production line, different forms of arts then no longer refer to the product labeled and produced by the so-called ‘artistic genius’, but a product of complex relationship between social, economic and political sphere. (Klingender, 1943) To be more specific, the relationship between materialist art history and Marxist art history is demonstrated with the practice of artwork in relation to society, economy or politics, with detailed and specific analysis in the context of social cultures and the idea of class in the capitalist society. (D’Alleva, 2005) In a particular cultural environment, we can realize the outgrowth of the interactions between patrons and artists in a more complicated way.
From being a strictly specialist subject catering for a small elite, contemporary art has entered the cultural mainstream in an unprecedented way. This is, perhaps, where one can draw a line between ‘collecting art’ and simply ‘buying art’. Regardless of the motivation, a collector has a serious, eclectic and discernible approach to accumulating art whereas, in comparison, a plain buyer is a sporadic customer for who the value of art may not be the prime consideration while picking up art arbitrarily. Artists are given celebrity status, and in New York City it is a widely quoted fact that more people visited Imran Qureshi’s in situ artwork on the Met’s rooftop than attended Michael Jackson’s concert at Madison Square Garden.
Appropriation is the act of borrowing and changing the meaning of cultural products, images, slogans and elements as well as reusing existing elements to create new works and meanings. Many artists believe that in borrowing existing images or elements of imagery, they are able to recreate the idea as it is now placed within a new concept. This essay will discuss how appropriation has been used in cultural and social contexts in order to create controversy and sell products, as well as be a form of expression. Pop culture often uses brash ways when trying to provide interest in society. As humans we are constantly wanting more and are never fully satisfied without entertainment, thus in order to meet these high demands many often turn to cultural appropriation as a void of entertainment.
People are immersed in popular culture during most of our waking hours. It is on radio, television, and our computers when we access the Internet, in newspapers, on streets and highways in the form of advertisements and billboards, in movie theaters, at music concerts and sports events, in supermarkets and shopping malls, and at religious festivals and celebrations (Tatum,