The Emancipation of Art

The Emancipation of Art(Re: What are the key arguments against the separation of high art and low art? : 

The Emancipation of Art(Re: What are the key arguments against the separation of high art and low art? Erin Gillespie ETEC 531 June 6, 2009

Welcome to...a conversation with myself...to answer:How was art freed? : 

Welcome to...a conversation with myself...to answer:How was art freed?

... if.... : 

... if.... Art was separated from the masses...

Very few would recognize a masterpiece.... : 

Very few would recognize a masterpiece.... Leonardo Davinci’s Mona Lisa (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License)

or appreciate new techniques... : 

or appreciate new techniques... Claude Monet’s Waterlilies (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License)

...or be able to see frescos... : 

...or be able to see frescos... Michelangelo Buonarroti’s The Creation of Adam (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License)

...or famous architecture. : 

...or famous architecture. Taj Mahal (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License)

Slide 8: 

....wait, didn’t I just sample and reproduce? This production should be an original work of art for my class project..... Oh well, back to my argument....

Craftsmanship would not be art. : 

Craftsmanship would not be art. Pearson Scott Foundation’s Lace (Wikimedia Commons License) Gerrit Rietveld’s Chair (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License) This is NOT ART!

Slide 10: 

We lived in a world where TECHNOLOGY divided the artistic process into mechanized tasks, removing the artist from the craft. Crafts were created in mass quantities and obtainable by the masses, but art was obtainable by few in society. Art=High Crafts=Low

Art was imprisoned, but the technology that caged art also set it free..... : 

Art was imprisoned, but the technology that caged art also set it free..... Pearson Scott Foundation’s Cage (Wikimedia Commons License) Nevit Dilman’s Bird (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License)

through REPRODUCTION : 

through REPRODUCTION

Slide 13: 

...but isn’t reproduction, well, fake? Aren’t I just copying another artist? That’s not original art.

Slide 14: 

Modernists used technology to transform their art, refusing to separate the artist from the craft, breaking down the high vs. low art dichotomy. Postmodern art (Pop art) mixed older artistic styles with new styles through the use of technology. Reproduction gave the masses access to the mechanical and to art.

Slide 15: 

Reproduction gave the masses access to the mechanical and to art.

Art was emancipated. : 

Art was emancipated. Mona Lisa Twirled (Wikimedia Commons License)

Slide 17: 

So I can create a representation of the real....but it’s Baudrillard’s hyperreal because a representation is the only Mona Lisa I know (Murphie & Potts, 2003; Simulacra (n.d.). Is this freeing art or creating...nothing?

Slide 18: 

Consider the alternate. No mass production, no access, no sampling, no reproduction, no representation, no mixing, no copies...

Slide 19: 

Modernists could not use technology to transform their art. Frustrated, the artist remained separate from the craft, maintaining the high vs. low art dichotomy. The movement died out. Postmodern art never was.trough the use of technology. Reproduction gave the masses access to the mechanical and to art.

Slide 20: 

Art remained imprisoned.

...and architecture was seen by few : 

...and architecture was seen by few Taj Mahal (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License)

You wouldn’t know this... : 

You wouldn’t know this... Michelangelo Buonarroti’s The Creation of Adam (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License)

or appreciate new techniques... : 

or appreciate new techniques... Claude Monet’s Waterlilies (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License)

or a masterpiece.... : 

or a masterpiece.... Leonardo Davinci’s Mona Lisa (Wikimedia Commons Gnu License)

..or appreciate thisas original art. : 

..or appreciate thisas original art.

Slide 26: 

Reproduction has removed the aura from art that was once reserved for the socially elite and politically powerful. Technical reproduction “captured a place of its own among the artistic process.” (Benjamin, 1936, p. 2).

Slide 27: 

I see... then this presentation is art! You accessed images and manipulated them using technology to produce something real and original.

Slide 28: 

Exactly Through technological reproduction and modes of representation, art was emancipated. “Mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual.” (Benjamin, 1936, p. 5)

Slide 29: 

References Benjamin, W. (1936). The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction [Class handout].Vancouver, B.C.: University of British Columbia, ETEC 531. Retrieved May 14, 2009, from https://www.vista.ubc.ca/webct/RelativeResourceManager/Template/Imported_Resources/etec_531_det_course_20070528143010/Modules/Module2/Content/PDFs/benjamin.pdf Ellul, J. (2001). Remarks on technology and art. Bulletin of Science: Technology & Society, 21(1), 26-37. Retrieved May 18, 2009, from http://bst.sagepub.com at University of British Columbia Library. Murphie, A., & Potts, J. (2003). Culture and Technology. Palgrave Macmillan. Simulacra and simulation (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Available June 1, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulacra_and_Simulation

All multimedia in this production is available through open source licensing. : 

All multimedia in this production is available through open source licensing. Multimedia Resources Images Bird Cage: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cage_(PSF).jpg Dilman, Nevit (2008). Bird. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bird_1010720_drawing.svg Gerrit Rietveld’s Chair:http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rietveld_chair_1.JPG Girl Silhouette: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1193153 Lace: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lace_(PSF).png Mona Lisa: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa.jpeg Mona Lisa Eyes: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa_detail_eyes.jpg Mona Lisa Face: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa_detail_face.jpg Mona Lisa Twirled: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_lisa_twirled.jpg Neon Swirl: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1062038 Taj Mahal: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taj_mahal_in_march_2004.jpg The Creation of Adam: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mona_Lisa.jpeg Waterlilies: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Claude_Monet-Waterlilies.jpg Soundtrack Northup, J.B. (1998) Stream of unconsciousness: 1-2-3-4. Retrieved June 4, 2009, from http://www.opsound.org/artist/stateoftheart/