How do media and reproductions of art change how we perceive it?
"Today we live in a world where the image, the reproduction, is more powerful than the original."In Mary Ann Steniszewski's Believing is Seeing, Steniszewski talks about the effect the media has on how the public perceives art. In our society, art gains importance through media reproduction and exposure to the public. When the public is shown a piece of "art," we tend to accept it, no questions asked.
Through the environment that we see "art" in, we add value to it. If we go to an exhibit, a museum, or purchase "art," we perceive those pieces as having value, because value has been placed on them by society. For example, artist Marcel Duchamp's Fountain. Duchamp's Fountain is an urinal. In a bathroom setting, urinal's aren't considered art. But when presented at an exhibit, this ordinary urinal becomes "art." Another example of the media calling something "art" would be Venus of Willendorf. We have no idea what the use of this figurine was; it could be an everyday item. Yet we call it "art" and study it in our art history classes.
The way our society idealizes art is relatable to how our celebrities become famous. Andy Warhol realized this relationship, and through pieces like Marilyn Monroe or Elvis, Warhol depicts this relationship. By repeating the images constantly, Warhol shows how the use of repetition influences how we add importance to things. When the media is constantly depicting certain people as important, the public considers those people to be famous, or to be celebrities.
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- READINGS last edited on 22 October 2008 at 1:20 pm by 148.61.92.188