JoAnna's Response to Article 2's Questions

The Art of Being Contemporary

Jess Question #1.) I don’t think that culture “trumps” art necessarily, but I believe that art cannot avoid being influenced by cultural surroundings. And yes, it is true that it can be seen in works today. No matter what, I think culture will 'trump' in some contemporary artist’s work in some way.

Mary’s question #2.) I thought this was a very interesting question. And I think it is possible for future historians to label our contemporary art in some way. I think it will be more difficult maybe, because there are numerous contemporary artists, and it seems that there are many more branches of ideas and thought that have formed now, compared to the past (Baroque artists). But I think it could still be defined indefinitely. I know in my art history classes, when my professors will talk about an art era from past, such as Baroque (or Impressionism, or Dada…etc.) they will say something like, “ The concept and history behind [Dadaism] is much more complex than what I am about to tell you in this short semester, but here is the main idea behind it…” They will go on to explain, in brief, Dadaism. I think that in the future this could be said about the art from this era as well.

As for defining contemporary art (Lindsay’s question #1), I don’t think we can put it in a box just yet. We can leave that for future historians.

Kara’s questions #1&2.) I really liked the questions Kara posed because I found myself underling the same passages from the article and asking the same questions. As for question #2, I also agree that the article did spend a lot of time trying to define contemporary as opposed to “art”, but it talked mainly about how contemporary art is affected today buy culture and its surroundings. One of the statements I found interesting was this: “...we’re living in a much different art world—colder, more analytical and with a more fraught relation to commercialism.” I think that because of this some artist will try and avoid the “homogenous market.”