1. Who & What Belongs in Art Worlds? (Cont’d) Yinka Shonibare Diary of a Victorian Dandy 14:00 hours, C-type print 1998

2. Artist’s Discourse (example) n Videoclip: Excerpt from Cai Guo-Qiang interview: Art:21(Art in the 21st Century) PBS n Olympic Ceremony Controversy (enhancement of Guo-Qiangs’s Footprints of History” firework performance u http://blog.art21.org/2008/08/22/cai-guo-qiang-responds-to-olympics-fireworks-controversy/ http://blog.art21.org/2008/08/22/cai-guo-qiang-responds-to-olympics-fireworks-controversy/

3. Today’s Class Session Schedule n Continue Discussion of Artists as a “social type” or “category” (very important in cultural & economy policy studies now) and identity issues in classification regimes n Presentation of Selected Readings: u Nicholas Perrin (Menger) u Megan Robertson (

4. Recall—Last Day: Conceptual & practical problems in studying artists & artistic careers n Establishing criteria for locating, identifying artists n “Irrationality” of choices (P-M. Menger) u Ex. Choosing poorer pay for more prestigious roles as an actor n Precarity & uncertainty of artistic careers n In modern times -- clash between notions of u career (regularities, patterns ) u artistic recognition (singularities, unique, break with past) u The ‘triple game’ of contemporary art (transgressions of boundaries of what is art, rejection by public, integration by arts professionals)—(Nathalie Heinich)

5. Changing views about values of art can lead to changes in the status of the artist, artwork & the social institutions & publics that support them u Beaune Altarpiece Altarpiece u PBS jazz series by Ken Burns u Examples of establishing “cannons” through testimony of “experts” (ex. critics, “stars”, fans) and changing shape of artforms stars

6. Unique artists, unique art works (individual) vs. social construction of art/artists (Zolberg) n Example: Problem of Multiples u negotiating artistic values in context of new technologies u new ways of thinking about connections between the artwork and the “aura” of the artist u Walter Benjamin-- “work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction”

7. Ways of Studying Artists & Arts professionals n “Are Artists Born or made?” n Theories about artists’ careers 1.labor of love (art for art’s sake) argument (Elliot Friedson) de-emphasizes income Arendt’s notions of labour (alienating but necessary) vs. work (creative vocation) 2.artists & arts professionals as risk-lovers, gamblers satisfaction proportionate to degree of uncertainty of success 3. Dual reward system monetary & non-monetary (psychic) gratification 4. Other—couldn’t do anything else

8. Formal training Issues u qualifications—non-routine activities depend on skills not easily transmitted or certified by a training system F impact of schooling on earnings smaller than other professional groups u mentoring/apprenticeships u job matching (leaning-by-doing process) u occupational risk diversification

9. Problems using “income” as a way of identifying for artists & arts professionals n Irregular incomes, seasonal variations, self-emploment u public sources (subsidies, commissions, sponsorship) u “privatization” (sales of services or works) u transfer income from other employment (multiple job holding) u personal (family, friends)

10. Careers in the arts and rationality of risk management (Menger) n “rational behaviour model” n but artistic careers are risky u high level of income inequality u high chance of “failure” u impermanence of artistic work, self-employment u amibiguity of transition from training to work (skills) u careers advance through recurrent & nonrecurrent work (non- routine work)

11. Criteria used in classifying art & artists n “aura” of the artist n Characteristics of u the art form and genre u audience/public (notion of consecration) u Publics or audiences “highbrow/lowbrow” tastes u arts organizations, networks associated with different art worlds

12. Mediation & “Support Structures” & Publics as factors in recognition & art- making n Arts worlds include all the people involved in art- making ????? n Cooperative links through shared conventions ??? n how participants u “draw lines” and what art worlds do u Mobilize resources (material resources, training personnel, networks, organizations) u Develop Distribution Systems and distinctions

13. Who Belongs in Art Worlds? Arts Occupations, Institutions, Networks (continued) & Mediation (Gatekeepers, Facilitators) Source: V. Alexander Sociology of the Arts…(2003), p. 63.

14. Participants in art worlds -- Mediators Creators/artists Audiences/publics/consumers art

15. Who Belongs to Art Worlds? Life Drawing Class, Bocour Paintmaking Studio NYC, c. 1942 c.

16. Production of Culture Perspective (Peterson, Anand) n How culture “shaped by systems in which it is created, distributed, evaluated, taught, preserved” n Culture not a mirror of society n Focus on u Expressive aspects of culture u Processes of symbol production u Analysis of organizations, occupations, networks, communities u Comparisons In situated studies of specific cultural forms and changes in them

17. Six Facet Model of Production n Technology n Law and regulation n Industry structure or field n Organizational structure of dominating organizatins n Occupational careers n Markets

18. Uses of the “Production Perspective” n Organizational Research u theories of management u institutional decision-making processes/logics u Networks of production u Resource partitioning patterns n Studies of Informal Relations u Links between Class and Culture (ex. univore/omnivore) u Resistance & appropriation u Fabricating authenticity

19. Peterson on Country Music n How do mediators (record producers) choose artists to promote? u Authenticity, originality, distinctiveness u Transformation of field of country music from 1923-1953 u Process of institutionalization u Identified audience

20. Authenticity n Paradox of creating authenticity artificially? n Socially-agreed upon idea (social construction of reality– through shared values & practices) n History of country music (a revolt that became a style) n Artificial notion of the ‘unchanged’ past– hillbilly music (poor rural white Southerners) n Early distain of this type of music because of its association with hillbilly culture n Evolution of terminology (to country and western)

21. Mediation in the Production of Culture Perspective u How law, technology, careers, markets, organizational structure shape culture (in this case a form of cultural expression called ‘country music’) u notion of social production of culture (shared values, practices etc.) u Emergence of differentiated roles in the field of cultural production (manager, talent agent etc.)

22. Critiques of Peterson’s Production of Culture Perspective n Ignores or de-emphasizes u “uniqueness” of art to research constructed nature of collective representations, values u roles of fans and consumers in shaping cultural products u meanings of cultural production u power relations

23. Participants in Mediation Processes n Gatekeepers vs. facilitators : types vary with art form and genres u Ex. Diana Crane on proponents of Avant-Garde Art n Examples of types of “mediators” (between creators and publics): book publishers, record companies, film distribution networks, art gallery owners, booking agents, critics, reviewers for media, museum curators, sometimes even fans or fan clubs, etc…

24. Characteristics of the Mediators & Artistic Values n Mediation as a way of conferring status u The role of critics and other gatekeepers in recognition processes, examples: F Shrum– emergence of Fringe Festivals as a performing arts genre when critics begin to review it F Change in status of Graffiti and recognition by artists u Institutional forms & legitimation practices F Status of “Venues”, status of artists F Not-for-profit and for-profit models & differences in socio-cultural status (DiMaggio) Super Bowl XXXVIII, Halftime show, 2004

25. Mediators & Position in Field of Artistic “production” n Former emphasis on control, domination, social “reproduction” u Social origins and established formulas or genres u Hegemony & cultural industries u Cultural things as mirrors of underlying structures (functionalism, Marxism) n New theories– more dynamic u Symbolic exchange, interaction u Neo-institutionalism &”production of culture approach” (Peterson, DiMaggio) n BUT--Persistence of hierarchical models, commercial measures (commodification etc.) Barry Gordy in Hitsville recording studio, Detroit (Motown)

26. Planning Short Assignments and Class Presentations n Discussion of reading assignments and ideas for topics for case studies

27. Note to Users of these Outlines-- n not all material covered in class appears on these outlines-- important examples, demonstrations and discussions aren’t written down here. n Classes are efficient ways communicating information and provide you will an opportunity for regular learning. These outlines are provided as a study aid not a replacement for classes.