Art in Society learning reflection

1. I have always been interested in the fluidity of art categorization (i.e. who/what counts as art/artist and why?). I know there are often no definitive answers, but I would like more tools to approach issues like this.

I think that this was one of the cornerstones of the class and I have discovered a lot of interesting examples that contribute to this conversation. I definitely have an expanded way to think about this, so I feel that this objective was definitely met.

2. I would like to gain a greater understanding of what counts as an art world and how they form/who decides if it is an art world.

This was something else that we talked about early on and explored more in depth individually in the field guides. The answer to the question of “what is an art world?” is just as expansive and fluid as the question “what is art?” That said, I feel that I have a lot more tools and understanding on how to better approach this question, so this objective is met. 

3. Another goal of mine is to get more context around how the current state of the arts in society formed and why.

Looking back, this might be more of a cultural policy question, though I feel like the combination of this class and Cultural Admin have helped to answer it in broad strokes. Also, it is a pretty broad question and I’m not totally sure what I was going for in asking it. I do feel like I have a lot more knowledge about the history of art and art management especially in the 20th century, so I’ll say that this objective was somewhat met (and somewhat inappropriate for this venue). 

4. Something else that I’m curious about after doing the readings thusfar is the idea of transmedia. Like many definitions in the art world, it is a fluid idea, but I still don’t feel like I totally grasp a deep understanding of it.

This class along with Marketing, Media, and Communication have really helped to define transmedia for me. Though the idea is still appropriately fluid, I have a much stronger understanding of transmedia; this objective was definitely met. 

5. I want to learn more about the broader ideas of aesthetics and art participation and what the interplay is between the two of them.

This is another strange question looking back knowing what I know now. I feel that I definitely know a lot more about aesthetics and art participation, and there is definitely an interplay, but I don’t think it is something as strong and concrete as I thought when coming up with this question. To be sure, the interplay is there, but I don’t think aesthetics and art participation are two ideas that people tend to think of as pairing together before, say, art participation and accessibility or aesthetics and value.