There really is no such thing as Art. There are only artists. (Gombrich 1984: 4)
Gombrich’s Delphic observation suggests that art is something which artists do. The various examples used to illustrate this primer – ceramics, constructions, paintings, land art, installations, performance art, photomontage and sculpture – all have aesthetic status. In other words, the label ‘art’ connects very disparate objects, practices and processes.
Recognising this diversity, various categorisations have been made within definitions of visual art (including Fernie 1995: 326).
Building on these we might propose a general set of guidelines for understanding what art is thought to be:
• Fine art has traditionally been used to distinguish arts promoted by the academy, including painting, drawing and 4 art theories and art histories sculpture, from craft-based arts. The latter typically refers to those works created for a function – such as ceramics, jewellery, textiles, needlework and glass which are still termed decorative arts. This distinction does not apply so strongly in contemporary art making where a wide variety
of media are used including, for example, ceramics (Grayson Perry) and embroidery (Tracey Emin). There is, however, still a loose boundary between objects made with a specific function in mind (and therefore where technical and design-related concerns are paramount) and those which are made primarily for display.
• A broader definition of art encompasses those activities which produce works with aesthetic value, including film making, performance and architecture. For example, architecture has always had a close connection to painting, drawing and sculpture, two instances being the classical revival in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and the Bauhaus aesthetic of the 1930s which frequently integrated fine art with design, craft and architecture.
• Contemporary definitions of art are not medium specific (as ideas around fine art tended to be) or particularly restrictive about the nature of aesthetic value (as Modernism was – see Chapter 2). These ideas are associated with the Institutional Theory of Art which is probably the most widely used definition.
It recognises that art can be a term designated by the artist and by the institutions of the art world, rather than by any external process of validation. On the one hand it provides an expansive framework for understanding diverse art practices, but on the other, it is so broad as to be virtually meaningless.We will return to this in Chapter 7.
However, regardless of categorisation, all definitions of art are mediated through culture, history and language. To understand these differing concepts of art, we need to look at their social and cultural origin.
Gombrich’s Delphic observation suggests that art is something which artists do. The various examples used to illustrate this primer – ceramics, constructions, paintings, land art, installations, performance art, photomontage and sculpture – all have aesthetic status. In other words, the label ‘art’ connects very disparate objects, practices and processes.
Recognising this diversity, various categorisations have been made within definitions of visual art (including Fernie 1995: 326).
Building on these we might propose a general set of guidelines for understanding what art is thought to be:
• Fine art has traditionally been used to distinguish arts promoted by the academy, including painting, drawing and 4 art theories and art histories sculpture, from craft-based arts. The latter typically refers to those works created for a function – such as ceramics, jewellery, textiles, needlework and glass which are still termed decorative arts. This distinction does not apply so strongly in contemporary art making where a wide variety
of media are used including, for example, ceramics (Grayson Perry) and embroidery (Tracey Emin). There is, however, still a loose boundary between objects made with a specific function in mind (and therefore where technical and design-related concerns are paramount) and those which are made primarily for display.
• A broader definition of art encompasses those activities which produce works with aesthetic value, including film making, performance and architecture. For example, architecture has always had a close connection to painting, drawing and sculpture, two instances being the classical revival in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and the Bauhaus aesthetic of the 1930s which frequently integrated fine art with design, craft and architecture.
• Contemporary definitions of art are not medium specific (as ideas around fine art tended to be) or particularly restrictive about the nature of aesthetic value (as Modernism was – see Chapter 2). These ideas are associated with the Institutional Theory of Art which is probably the most widely used definition.
It recognises that art can be a term designated by the artist and by the institutions of the art world, rather than by any external process of validation. On the one hand it provides an expansive framework for understanding diverse art practices, but on the other, it is so broad as to be virtually meaningless.We will return to this in Chapter 7.
However, regardless of categorisation, all definitions of art are mediated through culture, history and language. To understand these differing concepts of art, we need to look at their social and cultural origin.
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