ART BASICS: Historical, Cultural and Social Aspects of Art
What Kind of Art Is It?
Historical, Cultural and Social Aspects of Art
Every work of art has a context. Whether historic, cultural, social or other, the context of it becomes an important part of its content. The 20th century Swiss artist Wassily Kandinski eloquently stated this fact."Every work of art is the child of it's time and often the mother of our emotions."
The historic context of a work of art refers not only to the time the work was created but also to its style. For example, the painting of The Death Of Socrates, by the French artist Jacques Louis David, was done in 1787 in what is known as a neoclassical style. This style of painting used Classical Greek imagery as metaphor for the social condition of France and was a popular style there at that time in history.
The cultural context of a work of art refers to the culture that it was created by and for. The art of the Native American Plains Indians, for example, was directly connected to their cultural and spiritual beliefs. It was directly connected to their cultural, ceremonies and rituals.
The social context of a work of art refers to the social conditions of the time and place that the work was created in and for. During the 1960s in China, the social conditions of the country were dictated by a social phenomenon known as the cultural revolution. As a result of this condition the art was entirely created for the political and social ideology of the communist party, headed by Chairman Mao Tse Tung. The purpose of this art was to glorify the proletariat and idealize the Communist doctrine of Chairman Mao.
While traveling the roads and highways west of the Mississippi the traveler will come upon a uniquely american phenomena known as THE RODSIDE ICON. As three dimensional landmarks they are wittnessed by millions of people annually and while they are not declared as works of art, to a large degree they help to shape the publics perception of large scale, landscape sculpture. (environmental art) (fig. )
Whether it be community identity, tourism, real estate or other,the commondenominator is to attract and sell. Without respect for environmental, historic or cultural context; planning, anatomy or aesthetic quality, they are simply "ploped" in the landscape like inflated lawn ornaments where they impose and becon like gigantic carnival hawkers. (fig.)
What than is the Historical, Cultural and Social content of the ROADSIDE ICONS? In the best sense they are immense toys on the landscape evoking surreal qualities of Salvadore Dali's art. In another way they appear as fugitive mutant giants escaped from Disneyland, appealing to the child in all of us. (fig. ) Yet in the worst sense they are reflections of our culture, mirroring the depth and temperature of our society telling us, perhaps, more than we want to know about our time, our place and ourselves. (fig. ) The question here is this; can these things be considered as art, or kitsch? If so why? If not, why not?
ART BASICS: Historical, Cultural and Social Aspects of Art
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School of Art, Design and Art History | San Diego State University