Archive for December 2011

Lecture 7: High Culture vs. Low Culture

High Culture vs. Low Culture // 14th December 2011

High Culture vs. Low Culture // 14th December 2011

High Culture and Low Culture

Introduction
The urge to criticism is almost natural within us – day in, day out we make critical evaluations of one sort or
another. And this tendency is inevitably attached to our pursuit for quality of life.  Distinguishing between good
and bad has been the realm of philosophical debate for centuries.  In relation to the pursuit of good/bad in art
philosopher have established the realm of enquiries known as Beauty, Taste and Aesthetics.

The term avant-garde in its first usage in relation to art, referred to the ability for art in general to be the ‘avant
garde of society’, the ability for art to exercise a positive influence on society.  By the late 19th century the term
was adopted from its political usage at the time, and came to denote specific artistic tendencies that outdistanced
the contemporary artistic movements.  By the early 20th century the term is adopted in art criticism and there
exists a notion of a plurality of avant-gardes in competition with one another. In the ideology of the avant-garde
two currents exist – a right wing current and a left wing current. The right wing current has been the most
prominent and according to this tendency innovation is the sole objective of avant-gardism.  The left wing current
holds that artists should be progressive on a social and political level and should be committed to class struggle;
however, artistic innovation in this context is potentially perceived as decadent, elitist and bourgeois.  In the past,
the left wing trends which have avoided artistic innovation because of its elitist implications have run the risk of
following academic traditions in art, (for example the Mexican Muralists).  Avant-garde artists who align
themselves with the Left are therefore faced with a dilemma of opposing interests. Defining elements of the avant
garde are:- (1)Its linear conception of history – what the avant-garde artist achieves now, will be what other artists
follow on to emulate in the future. (2)Historical Determinism – this is the idea that avant-garde will eventually
become incorporated and function successfully in the future. (3)Evolutionist Conception of History – In the
ideology of the avant-garde there is always an implied notion of progress; progress toward correcting the problems
avant-garde is an elite minority.  The irony here is that the avant-garde began as an assault on the bourgeoisie.  
Roland Barthes posed in ‘The Death of the Avant-Garde’  - it was dying because it was recognized as significantly 
artistic by the same class whose values it rejected.’ The avant-garde ideology justifies the role of the artist and 
the ways he/she might operate, e.g. subversive, experimental, oppositional, revolutionary, dandy and so on. The 
avant-garde in the 20th Century has become an essential part of the art market and is both sought out and 
supported as official culture; examples today would include:- the Tate Gallery’s Turner Prize, Charles Saatchi’s 
contemporary art collection, and corporate sponsorship in such forms as the BT New Contemporaries exhibitions 
of the world.  

Taste & Beauty
Significant contributions were made in the 18th C. as to the nature of beauty.  Philosophical enquiry shifted from
considering the nature of beautiful objects, to the way ‘men’ react to beauty and to the idea of beauty being a
subjective, psychological response – the idea of ‘beauty being in the eye of the beholder’.  For a number of
philosophers and aestheticians, inherent within the idea of perceiving beauty, is the notion of being ‘able’ to
perceive beauty, having the mental faculty to do so.  Connoisseurship and Taste for the aristocratic gentlemen
were predicated around the transcendental faculty for appreciating beauty and therefore evaluative judgements
were tenable.  The appreciation of beauty was considered an important and morally uplifting quality for the
aristocracy.  By the 19th C. the various philosophies of Beauty and Taste began to emerge into what we know as
the philosophy of Aesthetics.

Clive Bell’s Theory
Aesthetic experience may roughly be described as the experience of viewing beauty.  For Kant, “Beauty in its 
aesthetic sense can be defined as the ‘quality’ in an object which when viewed gives pleasure.”  Form becomes 
the essential quality, and aesthetic readings of art tend to pursue the formal rather than other modes of analysis.  
Clive Bell’s influential aesthetic theory makes this approach clear by castigating the distractive features of 
narrative/”descriptive” pictures.  Significant Form is the quality within paintings/sculpture that makes them Art.  
However, for Bell (like others), one has to have the faculty to appreciate ‘significant form’.  This makes his 
argument circular and impossible to contradict – thus, for a viewer contradicting Bell’s claim, Bell could simply 
reply that such a viewer did not have the sensitivity to appreciate aesthetic form.

Art for Art’s Sake
One effect of Bell’s thesis is the total rejection of descriptive genre painting.  In its place is the adoption of an Art
for Art’s Sake stance.  Such a stance is integral to the ideology of the Avant-Garde.  For a number of theorists in
the first half of the 20th C. (see Adorno & the Frankfurt School, early Greenberg), avant-garde production was the
key to what was good and could be seen as oppositional to popular art forms and kitsch which were seen as a
threat to civilised culture.

Greenberg’s Theory
The alignment between the Avant-Garde and Modernism was to be entrenched within the theoretical writings of
Clement Greenberg.  Greenberg, like Bell, sees figurative art as getting in the way of aesthetic experience.  Being
responsive to the aesthetic quality of an object requires a contemplative mode of being ‘disinterested’.  Greenberg
talks about approaching art with ‘the eye’ alone – and that this should be the sole criteria for judging art if we are
to distinguish good from bad.  However, the question needs to be put, is art just about pleasing the ‘eye’?  Is it not
the case that art is also about engaging the mind?  In that respect Greenberg’s later theoretical position does not
progress his earlier critical stance towards Kitsch.

Kitsch
For Greenberg and others kitsch could be characterised as the various forms of popular culture, such as
Hollywood movies, advertisements, and commercial art.  The more accurate meaning of Kitsch actually refers to
those objects which draw from and aspire to High Art, although their appeal to popular taste would always be a
primary criteria:  However, the term is more commonly used to refer more broadly to popular cultural artefacts and
is interchangeable with terms like ‘cheap tack’, ‘trashy’, ‘bad taste’.

High & Low
The distinction between High Art and Low Art presents a number of problems.  However, I would like to draw
attention to two of those for now.  Firstly, with what kind of authority should we take and consider those claims to
Art which fix themselves firmly within the realm of the popular, the easily accessible, digestible and intelligible?
Where might we place ‘serious’ fine art production (the kind located on Fine Art degree programmes and within the 
pages of Artforum) in a culture which proposes Ikea prints, tiger and elephant drawings and limited edition
collectors plates as fine art also?  And secondly, how should we cope with the fact that the realm of Low Art has
successfully been ‘raided’ by modern art – Manet, Picasso, Duchamp, Warhol, Rauschenberg, Koons etc, - and
become subject matter for High Art?

Evaluation
How might we evaluate good and bad? “Well, it all comes down to personal taste” is a popular subjectivist
response, but one which I would say amounts to bad criticism.  This approach equates ‘I like’ with ‘is good’, and
has a number of problems.  Firstly, we often like what we know to be bad, and dislike what we know are good. 
Secondly, statements such as “I like this painting” or “this sculpture is crap”, don’t reveal anything about the 
works themselves, but tend more to be facts about the person making the statement.  Alternatively, the 
intuitionist response, would posit that a viewer makes a judgement based on intuition; this avoids the problems 
relating to like=good, however, this approach is still subjective in character and judgements are impossible to 
substantiate.  A third and more satisfactory approach explores the criteria and contexts for what might constitute 
good.  Applying the philosopher R.M. Hare’s relativist approach, it is acknowledged that the criteria for ‘good’ will 
shift according to context.  Given the expanded practice of contemporary art, it is no longer relevant to apply only 
those evaluative criteria appropriate to ‘traditional’ art, e.g., skill, naturalism, narrative content.  The close of the 
lecture, therefore, invites the audience to consider what evaluative criteria might be employed, (with 
discrimination), to contemporary art, in making the judgements ‘good art’ / ‘bad art’

Monday, 26 December 2011 by Lisa Collier
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Lecture 7: High Culture vs. Low Culture

High Culture vs. Low Culture // 14th December 2011
High Culture vs. Low Culture // 14th December 2011



- Avant Guarde; idea of being progressive/innovative (It is used broadly across many industries)
- Understanding the term 'avant guarde' and the term 'kitsch'; "art for art's sake"
- Idea's of there being an avant guarde in society


- Being avant guarde makes us innovative and challenging or it can also be referred to as being part of 'THE' avant guarde


- Describing something as avant guarde means describing it as 'better' 
- Avant guarde often relates to fashion 
- The term has lost its currency and is used everywhere in popular culture outside of art


- Art as avant guarde is a class of attack on critics on the rules of the art at the time
- Fauvists are seen as avant guarde; as they questioned the norm
- In today's culture; experimenting for experiments sake


- Avant Guarde is very institutionalised; there is almost a pressure now to be original constantly 
              - We must be innovative and prioritise innovation


- Due to the history of education in art (people copied art) artistic freedom was not accepted; there was no expression. This allowed the success of new avant guarde art movements. The society changes and class shifts mean there is more of a market place for art. However, art is still restricted  due to the demand of art types and the fact that artists see themselves as above all others


- At this point in time art begins to swallow itself and almost becomes self destructive
- Avant Guarde translates into the dynamic force; they are the cultural leaders as like in the Van Guarde of the army


- 'Art for Art's sake'; seen as art with no purpose, there is no message of politics. We can see this a s a form of fine art through Avant Guardism


- Artists become separated from "all the rest" of the population as they see themselves as special. Fine art becomes misunderstood


- Critics begin to help artists self perpetuate the fine art movement by noting theories that have no meaning. All parties then follow the critics POV to get noticed and acclaimed. Critics help protect the art world in the same manner by creating arguments. Critics suppress all other cultures and protect their own interests and personal aesthetic pleasures such as american critics say all other countries work is pointless. 


- We find that people in power such as Stalin direct art movements.


- There is an elitist mindset that misunderstood art is elite. To be this we argue that you must then separate yourself from the world.


- Dictionary definitions of the term 'avant guarde' link it with ideas of innovation in the arts or pioneers. Idea of doing art and design work that is progressive (innovating). Also refers to the idea of there being a group of people being innovative


          - Being avant-guarde in the work you do; challenging, innovating, etc.
          - Being part of a group; being a member of the avant-guarde


Marcel Duchamp



- radical / sensational
- Mona Lisa: L.H.O.O.Q (she's got a 'hot' arse); avant-guarde humourism's or jokiness 
- 'Fauves' - Wild Beasts
- Fauvists are seen as avant guarde; as they questioned the norm


Andre Derain




- Aesthetics to the painting
- Politics behind the artwork
- Being experimental / shocking
- Experiments for experiments sake --> Art for Art's sake


Leeds College of Art; Visual Communication prospectus



- prioritise meaning
- Avant Guarde = Seriousness

- LCA quotes prioritise certain concepts;
1) Innovation (creating new things)
2) Experimentation (process in order to achieve new things)
3) Originality (copying is bad, originality is good)
4) Creative Genious (to bring out a hidden creative depth held deep within the student)

Visual Communication
'The second level aims to let you experiment within your chosen range of disciplines'
'Our aim is to encourage students to take a radical approach to communication'
'To be a student on the course you need to enjoy:- 'Challenging conventions'

Printed Textiles and Surface Pattern designs
'Our aim is to provide an environment which allowed you to discover, develop, and express your personal creative identity through your work'. 
'Level on studies concentrate on '... experimentaton'.

Interior design
'We encourage our students to challenge conventional thinking'.

Furniture Design
'Throughout the course you will be encouraged to form a personal vision and direction based upon critical self-analysis'.

Fashion Design
'We encourage you to develop your individual creativity to the highest level...'
'Level one studies concentrate on... experimentation'

Art and Design (Interdisciplinary)
'What will unite all your creative output will be the ability to apply your creative and technical skills in innovative ways, which are not limited to traditional subject boundaries'.

- Idea of art was never about being expressive or creative. In olden times, only rich people went to art school or art academy. You would be assigned a 'master' and you could copy their work until you could do it perfectly. 

- The only people to buy art at this time were aristocracy and church. It was never about expressing yourself and there was no room for exploration. This continued until the 18th century; modernisation, art becomes free (expressive).

- Artists have to produce work that people want otherwise the artist can not fund their lifestyle and will eventually die or starvation. 

- Chatterton Myth: exploratory of the way artists feel, appears through certain concepts of avant-guardism, genious is revealed at this time, eventually people will understand

- Avant-Guarde = french term
      - advancing guarde / military term
      - best fighters = elite

- Avant guarde used in culture means there is a leader
- Rule of avant guarde; politically changes society

- 'Art's for Arts sake' Whistles Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket (1875)
       - Critic John Ruskin protested

Late 19th/Early 20th Century
- 2 approaches to avant-guarde
      1) Art is socially committed
      2) Art seeks to expand

- Clive Bell; significant form. Public are irrelevant (art historians are powerful)

Significant form; relationship of lines and colours move you aesthetically
       - Favourite artist; Cezanne Mount St. Victoire (1900)


Clement Greenburg
- Thinking and practice; 20th century
- The 'art for art's sake' approach dominated much thinking and practice in 20th century art

Pollock Lavender Mist (1950)
- design etc is worthless dumbs people down


Chris Burden 'shoot' (1971)
- Political Gesture with vietnam
- Artist got a friend to shoot him in a gallery to create an impact of the vietnam war
- Very Avant Guarde





- Stalin banned avant-guarde art stopping all forms of experiment. A real problem for the avant guarde is that it seems to necessitate 'Elitism' . So for those member of the 'left wing' (interested in social change) there was a tendency to have to rely on ACADEMIC TECHNIQUES in order to appeal to the 'public'.

Kitsch
- Kitsch becomes a degradation of how we view art
- Looking at things which are kitsch becomes elitist in itself
- Must we be elite to call anything kitsch?
- We have elitist sub culture in all our lives therefore we become the underclass by not realising this
- Kitsch culture however can be seen in the fine art movement such as in the statue of Michael Jackson and Bubbles.
- Thomas Kinkalde; richest living artist due to the fact he sells his art for the kitsch market. Do we say from this, that fine art is now irrelevant because not everyone can purchase it
- There is a battle to keep high culture pure and protected from the accessible world
- Low culture controls the art snobbery through kitsch items creating a divide
- On the other side, many fine artists such as Damian Hirst must replicate his work in a cheap way to make money due to the fact that fine art is ultimately self destructive, this is to make money.

Things can be seen as Kitsch culture are as important as high culture as they change the way we live indirectly and in a hidden way.

by Lisa Collier
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Artists: Male, Female and Agency

During the session with Jo we each had to share our Artists and inspirational designers. I found this really interesting a learnt about a lot of new designers and artists. Here are some that I would like to research further for future designs and briefs;


Julene Harrison






Jason Munn





I love dust studio




Friday, 9 December 2011 by Lisa Collier
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Artists: Male, Female and Agency

Earlier today we had a session with Jo looking at Designers. As preparation for the session we each had to write a list of every designer that has ever influenced us visually. We then had to choose one Male, one Female and one Agency and provide detailed research for each. I chose; Tim Bradford, Emma Rios, and Studio Output. 


Tim Bradford

Tim Bradford is an Animator with a unique and visually appealing style perfect for title sequences, adverts, idents & music videos.
Clients
- Shell, Ford, Sony Ericsson, Microsoft, British Gas, JWT, Capitol One and Ogilvy




Emma Rios
Emma works as an illustrator and set designer. Noted by Vogue and The Observer as 'up and coming'.
For Tatler's 300th edition she was commissioned to make a paper replica of Bond Street, the shoot spanned 17 pages where diamond necklaces where draped over paper buildings and million pound ear rings became chandeliers.

Recent projects have included creating a cave made entirely of sugar for London Fashion Week and the cover of ES Magazines first food monthly with Bompas & Parr.

The Sunken Gardens of Kensinghton Palace have a shadowy metal series of arch ways to coincide with the current fashion exhibition 'Enchanted Palace'. Teenagers drawings and ideas were realised by Emma with her paper cut style.

Clients
- Tatler, Harper's Bazaar, Visa, Historic Royal Palaces, Adidas, 02 centre, Harvey Nics, Wall Street Journal, Museum of London, Liberty, Bompas and Parr.






Studio Output
Studio Output are a famous Agency based across two sites. One in Nottingham and one in London. Their work is very vector based however they have a broad range of experimental pieces which I find really interesting. 

Clients
- BBC, Radio 1, Playstation, Club18-30, HMV, Gio-Goi, Il Divo etc.





by Lisa Collier
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