FAQs

What is art?
The definition in the textbook states that art is an object or event whose quality, production, or expression relates to the realm of what is beautiful or of more than ordinary significance. The vagueness of this definition is necessary because what is considered art varies between cultures and through time. What is art for one group may not be considered art by another. Also, what is considered art today, may not have been thought of as art in the past. In this way, art is a cultural construction that is continually being defined and redefined by all cultures. The standards that determine what is and is not art tend to be less uniform in more diverse more stratified societies.

How does art relate to social organization?
In general, as social organization becomes more complex, specialization increases, and the arts become more formalized. With increased specialization, artists spend more and more time devoted to producing and performing their art. With this specialization, the places where art is displayed and performed tend to become more permanent and specialized as well. As the arts become more formalized, so does the process of training to be an artist. Aspiring artists no longer learn their art from their parent as they study their chosen art in formal schools and apprenticeships. In traditional, nonindustrial societies, artists are part-time specialists who display or perform their work in generalized public spaces like the middle of the village. In industrialized nation-states, most artists are full-time, professionals who display or perform their art in permanently dedicated buildings like museums, concert hall, or theaters. In the kin-based support networks of nonindustrial artists groups, artists often form unions or guilds.

What is ethnic art?
This is a funny term that is somewhat synonymous with folk art. It is an odd term because it falsely implies that not all art has an ethnic association. Since everybody has some kind of identification with a cultural group based on shared beliefs, values, habits, customs, and norms, all art is created within a particular cultural and ethnic context. However, the term is generally used to refer to indigenous or non-Western art. The expansion of the modern world system has increased the visibility of non-Western artistic traditions around the world. This increased visibility comes at a cost because it has led to the "commodification" of ethnic art. Western consumers of these arts tend to view these cultural traditions only in terms of the colorful customs, music, dancing, adornments, clothing, jewelry, and objects. Consumers often fail to recognize how these traditions are integrated within a complex cultural system.