At 05:02 PM 21/06/2006 -0400, you wrote:
>Brad wrote:
>
>"It's worth bearing in mind that pretty much
everything we now think of
>as 'high art' - the plays of Shakespeare, the music
of Mozart, the
>novels of Melville - is simply the popular culture of
the distant past
>(or rather that part of the popular culture which has
withstood 'the
>test of time')."
I'd challenge this even more strongly than Mark. Shakespeare,
I suspect, is an exception and for a number of reasons. Most
of what we consider high art, at least historically, survived
on the generosity of wealthy patrons when it was produced,
not concert ticket and souvenir sales. I'm not sure who
filled the orchestra pits at the premiers of Greek tragedies,
but my understanding is that Romans preferred spectacle over
pantomime at the coliseum. And how many of those tragedies,
medieval morality plays or folk songs survive today? More
than a handful, however masterful their creators? And Mark
said:
>In fact, a pretty good argument could be made that
most
>acclaimed 20th Century art alienated the public, from
Dada to Damien
>Hirst. As the art industry grew, and as it became
more and more a
>signifier of class, it became more important to limit
the aura, and
>therefore the rarity and expense, of "real art," as
opposed to the
>mechanically reproduced mass culture. Even if Pop Art
used images of
>mass art, they were careful to present them and sell
them as high art.
That takes an interesting turn on the historical classics,
doesn't it? First off, the last century or so has been
significantly different than others in the amount of
education and literacy provided the hoi paloi, and in having
the wealth to provide leisure time for most people to consume
the arts. The whole concept of multi-billion dollar pop art
industries, media industries would have seemed laughable just
two centuries ago, and not because of inflation. So, I'm
suggesting that historically, by and large, successful
artists created works to suit the taste of established,
wealthy patrons- mostly the church and royalty. Their own
individual expression had to be conveyed subtly, not to annoy
the patron or upset his/her world. Such subtly conveyed ideas
may actually have appealed to a popular audience. Patronage
is sought now, partially but precisely because the artists'
ideas are thought worthy, but unacceptable to a popular
audience. Otherwise they go on a two-continent, 50 date tour.
Or write a teleplay.
Anyway, part of my point was going to be that public literacy
is a relatively new thing, and that a popular, or pulp, or
dime-novel publishing form, where average folks read words
from the page (as opposed to having words read to them, as in
the case of Shakespeare's plays) was exceptional, and short,
and was eclipsed when technology brought performance into the
home. Not that book=literature, but did Melville have a
popular audience of, say ordinary farm workers, or even
stevedores and whalers? How many of them could read in
Melville's time?
As for timelessness, Einstein said time was relative and
pretty much an illusion anyway. If a bit of art is here in
the present, however it got to be here, then I guess it has
to be better than whatever art is not here in the present and
so cannot be evaluated at all, making Miker right, sort
of.
In a manner of speaking.
Damn that bites, Kerry
P.S. I thought all the critics HAD been institutionalized by
the current administration. No?
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