Art Worlds as Communication Networks

1. Art Worlds as Communication Networks Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, original (left) and recreations of lost 1917 “Original” Who decides what is art?– the artist, experts, publics??

2. Banksy Another example of artist resisting, questions “system” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkUbYBo5xgs

3. Today • Lecture—More about Theories of Representation vs. Theories of the “social construction of art worlds”, begin”Who Belongs in Art World” • Discussion visits to Wack! (Vancouver Art Gallery special exhibition) and Gallery Gachet • Discussion of Choices of Topics for First Presentations and Scheduling (Revision of Handout 2) • Video on Art Gallery directors and the recognition/institutionalization of contemporary art forms

4. Internal (Humanist--aesthetics, history of the arts, critics, etc.) art=mystery, spontaneous creation of isolated genius importance of “aura” of individual artist for value of art work timeless, enduring quality of beauty, perfection External (Sociological--& cultural studies) Art=social production (and reproduction) importance of social networks for creation of belief in the arts values change in different social & historic contexts Overview: Internal vs. External Approaches

5. Who creates the ‘creator’? (Bourdieu) • “Unit of analysis” in art studies often wrong-- • should not study “apparent” producers (painter, writer, actors etc.) but processes (art, artist part of broader field of relationships) • ideology of creation conceals exploitation by market forces • art trader or impressario =symbolic banker who creates belief in the arts by creating belief in the economic (and moral?) value of art

6. Pierre Bourdieu— 1930-2002 • Marxist, critical theorist • Emphasis on • Social and political structures & material conditions as limits to freedom of agency • Power relations within the field of artistic production • Creation of belief in the power of symbolic goods (art, artistic reputations etc.) and their conversion into economic and socialcapital • history of the field of cultural production • hierarchical model • Relationships marked by class conflict

7. Howard Becker • Symbolic interactionist • http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/hbecker/ • Early work on labeling theory and social actors(a different way of thinking of agency) • Emphasis on • Sense-making (interpretive) • Human interaction & identity-formation • Consensus & conventions • Art-making as a Collective Activity • Notion of different types of “art worlds” • Strong sociological background but also a performing artist (jazz musician)

8. Howard Becker’s Art Worlds • Arts worlds include all the people involved in art-making • Cooperative links through shared conventions • Study how participants “draw lines” and what art worlds do

9. What do art worlds do together? • Develop conventions & shared practices related to creation (ex. musical notation systems) • Mobilize resources (material resources, training personnel, networks, organizations) • Develop Distribution Systems

10. Different types of artists/artworlds (Becker) • Types • Integrated professionals (ex. concert violinist) • Mavericks • Folk artists • Naïve artists • Classification according to how they fit in art worlds (degree of integration, consensus about the ‘rules of the game’, degree of standardization)

11. Ranking Artists (Becker’s 4 types) • according to different ways of working & career patterns • 1. integrated professionals • fit with accepted conventions & canons held by organizations • well-trained --technical skills, shared traditions

12. 2.Mavericks • innovative rebels against “system” • begin as conventional “novices” but deliberately violate norms of art world • techniques for success-- develop alternate systems for distribution • do not totally lose touch with world of their medium

13. example:KLF • Bill Drummond at the “Brit Awards”, 1993

14. 3. Folk Art • link with community practices • ex. Duck decoys, quilts, chain-gang songs, Christmas pagents • art serves needs, part of daily activities • follows aesthetic conventions, using established procedures (ex. Sorting scraps by colour) • often part of well-organized community, with informal training

15. 4. Naïve Art • aka. “primitive” naïve, grassroots • indiosynmcratic • ex. James Hampton, Throne of the Third Heaven of the national Millenium General Assembly • ex. Art of children and the insane • outsiders • N.S. artist Maud Lewis, Henri Rousseau, Grandma Moses

16. Van Laar and Diepeveen on “The function of Artists in Society” • Another typology • Five roles: • Skilled worker • Intellectual • Entrepreneur • Social critic • Social healer • Other dimensions • Ex. Wittkower “Under the Sign of Saturn” • Transformation from craftsperson to brooding geniuss • Later to status of intellectual in humanistic profession F. De Goya. Saturn devouring his son, c. 1821

17. Concluding Remarks on the Definition of the Artist • Different criteria used in different contexts • Fundamental conceptual problems

18. Criteria used in classifying art & artists • “aura” of the artist (authenticity -- School of Frankfort, Walter Benjamin-- “Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”) • qualities of the art • artistic category • particular work • characteristics of the audience/public (notion of consecration) • “highbrow/lowbrow” tastes (Levine--The emergence of a cultural hierarchy in America) • SES • size

19. Conceptual & practical problems in studying artists & artistic careers • Establishing criteria for locating, identifiying artists • “Irrationality” of choices (P-M. Menger) • Ex. Choosing poorer pay for more prestigious roles as an actor • In modern times -- Clash between notions of • career (regularities, patterns ) • Artistic recognition (singularities, unique, break past)

20. Changing views about values of art can lead to changes in the status of the artist, artwork & the social institutions & publics that support them • Beaune Altarpiece • PBS jazz series by Ken Burns • Examples of establishing “cannons” through testimony of “experts” (ex. critics, “stars”, fans) and changing shape of artforms

21. Unique artists, unique art works (individual) vs. social construction of art/artists (Zolberg) • Example: Problem of Multiples • negotiating artistic values in context of new technologies • new ways of thinking about connections between the artwork and the “aura” of the artist • Walter Benjamin-- “work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction”

22. Ways of Studying Artists & Arts professionals • “Are Artists Born or made?” • Theories about artists’ careers 1.labor of love (art for art’s sake) argument (Elliot Freidson) de-emphasizes income Arendt’s notions of labour (alienating but necessary) vs. work (creative vocation) 2.artists & arts professionals as risk-lovers, gamblers satisfaction proportionate to degree of uncertainty of success 3. Dual reward system monetary & non-monetary (psychic) gratification 4. Other—couldn’t do anything else

23. Formal training Issues • qualifications—non-routine activities depend on skills not easily transmitted or certified by a training system • impact of schooling on earnings smaller than other professional groups • mentoring/apprenticeships • job matching (leaning-by-doing process) • occupational risk diversification

24. Problems using “income” as a way of identifying for artists & arts professionals • Irregular incomes, seasonal variations, self-emploment • public sources (subsidies, commissions, sponsorship) • “privatization” (sales of services or works) • transfer income from other employment (multiple job holding) • personal (family, friends)

25. Careers in the arts and rationality of risk management (Menger) • “rational behaviour model” • but artistic careers are risky • high level of income inequality • high chance of “failure” • impermanence of artistic work, self-employment • amibiguity of transition from training to work (skills) • careers advance through recurrent & nonrecurrent work (non-routine work)

26. Criteria used in classifying art & artists • “aura” of the artist • Characteristics of • the art form and genre • audience/public (notion of consecration) • Publics or audiences “highbrow/lowbrow” tastes • arts organizations, networks associated with different art worlds

27. Mediation & “Support Structures” & Publics as factors in recognition & art-making • Arts worlds include all the people involved in art-making ????? • Cooperative links through shared conventions ??? • how participants • “draw lines” and what art worlds do • Mobilize resources (material resources, training personnel, networks, organizations) • Develop Distribution Systems and distinctions

28. Who Belongs in Art Worlds?Arts Occupations, Institutions, Networks (continued) & Mediation (Gatekeepers, Facilitators) Source: V. Alexander Sociology of the Arts…(2003), p. 63.

29. Participants in art worlds -- Creators/artists art Mediators Audiences/publics/consumers

30. Who Belongs to Art Worlds? Life Drawing Class, Bocour Paintmaking Studio NYC, c. 1942 c.

31. Production of Culture Perspective (Peterson, Anand) • How culture “shaped by systems in which it is created, distributed, evaluated, taught, preserved” • Culture not a mirror of society • Focus on • Expressive aspects of culture • Processes of symbol production • Analysis of organizations, occupations, networks, communities • Comparisons In situated studies of specific cultural forms and changes in them

32. Six Facet Model of Production • Technology • Law and regulation • Industry structure or field • Organizational structure of dominating organizatins • Occupational careers • Markets

33. Uses of the “Production Perspective” • Organizational Research • theories of management • institutional decision-making processes/logics • Networks of production • Resource partitioning patterns • Studies of Informal Relations • Links between Class and Culture (ex. univore/omnivore) • Resistance & appropriation • Fabricating authenticity

34. Critiques of Peterson’s Production of Culture Perspective • Ignores or de-emphasizes • “uniqueness” of art to research constructed nature of collective representations, values • roles of fans and consumers in shaping cultural products • meanings of cultural production • power relations

35. Participants in Mediation Processes • Gatekeepers vs. facilitators : types vary with art form and genres • Ex. Diana Crane on proponents of Avant-Garde Art • Examples of types of “mediators” (between creators and publics): book publishers, record companies, film distribution networks, art gallery owners, booking agents, critics, reviewers for media, museum curators, sometimes even fans or fan clubs, etc…

36. Characteristics of the Mediators & Artistic Values • Mediation as a way of conferring status • The role of critics and other gatekeepers in recognition processes, examples: • Shrum– emergence of Fringe Festivals as a performing arts genre when critics begin to review it • Change in status of Graffiti and recognition by artists • Institutional forms & legitimation practices • Status of “Venues”, status of artists • Not-for-profit and for-profit models & differences in socio-cultural status (DiMaggio) Super Bowl XXXVIII, Halftime show, 2004

37. L. Levine: The emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America • Starting question: why can’t you compare high culture & popular culture? • Why do people distinguish between highbrow and lowbrow audiences & their understanding of the arts? • Art forms not ‘cosmic truths’ but result from ‘peculiarities in the way culture operates

38. Levine’s Case study of the reception of Shakespeare • To study problem of equating notion of culture to idea of hierarchy • Believes primary categories of culture are determined by IDEOLOGIES not grounded in actual observation of cultural practices & tastes • Believes there was less hierarchical divisions in the past • But set in mid 20th c. • Do same hierarchical distinctions apply today? Or have we again entered an era in which high-brow & low-brow distinctions are less meaningful?

39. Mediators &Cultural Hierarchy • social meaning(s) of performance art • control and social “reproduction” • Social origins and established formulas or genres • Hegemony & cultural industries • Cultural things as mirrors of underlying structures (functionalism, Marxism) • New theories– more dynamic • Symbolic exchange, interaction • -”production of culture approach” (Peterson, DiMaggio)

40. Peterson on Country Music • How do mediators (record producers) choose artists to promote? • Authenticity, originality, distinctiveness • Transformation of field of country music from 1923-1953 • Process of institutionalization • Identified audience

41. Authenticity • Paradox of creating authenticity artificially? • Socially-agreed upon idea (social construction of reality– through shared values & practices) • History of country music (a revolt that became a style) • Artificial notion of the ‘unchanged’ past– hillbilly music (poor rural white Southerners) • Early distain of this type of music because of its association with hillbilly culture • Evolution of terminology (to country and western)

42. Mediation in the Production of Culture Perspective • How law, technology, careers, markets, organizational structure shape culture (in this case a form of cultural expression called ‘country music’) • notion of social production of culture (shared values, practices etc.) • Emergence of differentiated roles in the field of cultural production (manager, talent agent etc.)

43. Planning Short Assignments and Class Presentations • Discussion of reading assignments and ideas for topics • Research resources (library)

44. Note to Users of these Outlines-- • not all material covered in class appears on these outlines-- important examples, demonstrations and discussions aren’t written down here. • Classes are efficient ways communicating information and provide you will an opportunity for regular learning. These outlines are provided as a study aid not a replacement for classes.