Art world

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Art world (English Artworld ) is a term that goes back to the American philosopher Arthur C. Danto . Danto first used it in an essay published in the Journal of Philosophy in 1964 entitled The Artworld . The art world is formed by those participants in an “institutionalized discourse of reasons” that clarifies whether and why an object is a work of art. The American sociologist Howard S. Becker adopted the term in his 1982 book Art Worlds , but based it on the meaning of the networks of people who are directly or indirectly involved in the production of art. If the art world with Danto is to a certain extent a discourse community, with Becker it is a factual or virtual production network.

Both publications were received worldwide and are considered to be important reference texts for art philosophy (Danto) and art sociology (Becker).

Arthur C. Dantos Artworld

For Danto, the exhibition of the Brillo Boxes by pop art artist Andy Warhol in New York's Stable Gallery in 1964 was a key experience that motivated him to formulate a new art theory. Since the Brillo boxes in the gallery looked exactly like the ones to be bought in the store, every everyday object now seemed to be artful. According to Danto, art theories turn an everyday object into art, with a theory that adds meaning to its mere representativeness. It is only accepted in the art world through the interpretation of the object as an aboutness , that is, as a “ bearer of meaning”. "To see an object as a work of art [...] requires an atmosphere of artistic theory, a knowledge of the history of art: an art world". In a later essay he interprets the “substance” of the art world as an “institutionalized discourse of reasons”; Members of the art world are therefore the participants in this discourse. Danto later referred to this theory as the Institutional Theory of Art . George Dickie , who is considered to be the actual founder of the institutional theory of art , would have - according to Danto - in a “creative misunderstanding” of Danto's writings, changed his theory to the extent that he defined the art world as a kind of “empowering elite” who gave an object the status of art awards.

Howard S. Beckers Art Worlds

Becker's work aims at an empirical sociology of art . He understands art as work that should not be understood as the work of a single creator, but as the result of collective and interactive activities. Art worlds are for him networks of people who are in division of labor cooperation produce works of art and convey to the audience. As an instructive example, Becker cites the credits of a Hollywood film, which lists the various functions and people who were involved in its creation. But not only the performing arts (concert, theater, opera) operate in an art world based on the division of labor, but also the apparently individually practicing artists (e.g. painters, poets) depend on others producing brushes, paint and paper, for example Gallery owners and publishers bring their products to the public.

Works

  • Arthur C. Danto: The Art World . In: Journal of Philosophy , vol. 61 (1964), pp. 571-584
    • German: Die Kunstwelt . In: German Journal for Philosophy , 42 Jg. (1994), pp. 907-919
  • Howard S. Becker: Art Worlds . University of California Press, Berkeley 1982
  • Howard S. Becker: Art Worlds . 25th Anniversary Edition. Updated and expanded. University of California Press, Berkeley 2008
  • A German translation of his article Art as Collective Action from the American Sociological Review (38. Jg./1974, pp. 767-776) contains the anthology Sociology of Art, edited by Jürgen Gerhards . Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1997, pp. 23-40.

literature

  • Monika Betzler: Arthur Coleman Danto. In: Julian Nida-Rümelin , Monika Betzler (ed.): Aesthetics and philosophy of art. From antiquity to the present in individual representations (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 375). Kröner, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-520-37501-X , pp. 189-198.
  • Dagmar Danko: On the topicality of Howard S. Becker. Introduction to his work. Springer VS, Wiesbaden 2015
  • Gans von Maanen: How to Study Art Worlds. On the Societal Functioning of Aesthetic Values. Amsterdam University press, Amsterdam 2009

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Arthur C. Danto: The Art World . In: German Journal for Philosophy , 42 year (1994), p. 914.
  2. ^ Arthur C. Danto: The Art Worls Revisited: Comedies of Similarities . In: ders .: Beyond the Brillo Box. The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective . New York 1992. German: Reunion with the art world: Comedies of similarity . In: Arthur C. Danto: Art after the end of art . Fink, Munich 1996
  3. ↑ Monika Betzler: Arthur Coleman Danto . In: Julian Nida-Rümelin / Monika Betzler (Ed.): Aesthetics and philosophy of art. Stuttgart: Kröner, p. 190.
  4. ↑ Dirk Koppelberg: Arthur C. Danto . In: Stefan Majetschak (Hrsg.): Classics of the philosophy of art. From Plato to Lyotard . Beck, Munich 2005, p. 300.
  5. ↑ Arthur C. Danto: Reunion with the Art World: Comedies of Likeness . In: ders .: Art after the end of art . Fink, Munich 1996, p. 53.
  6. ↑ Arthur C. Danto: Reunion with the Art World: Comedies of Likeness . In: ders .: Art after the end of art . Fink, Munich 1996, p. 53.