Week 9 Dialoging with Pop Culture
Popular Culture Analysis
As we seen in our reading Inventing Popular Culture, there are many definitions to what constitutes popular culture. We can study popular culture as well as live it. What I mean by studying it is we analysis what are the theories behind it, such as what is defined as popular in many areas of society like in clothing, electronics, music, movies, and art. We can also study the distinctions already made throughout history. An example of this is through discipline of Art History especially in the discussion about the controversies over distinctions between high and low art. There are many different opinions on the subject, it is hard distinguish which theory is correct. Even thinking about the topic makes my brain hurt because since I have studied in the realm of Art History I feel like I am obligated to answer these questions. Wow I put tremendous pressure on myself to answer these circular questions I guess since this what I want to study this for the rest of my life, I feel like I should be well versed in this area of study. I am realizing that I am not satisfied with the typical answer “ it is all based on interpretations”, which is how I described most things in the artistic realm instead of having a 5 hour conversation based on what constitutes art or is there value to abstract art? So I give people the easiest answer that I can give “it is all based on interpretation” Which is partially true, but there is more to it then that. Reading this book, in a way created angst for me, because it made me realize I truly miss studying art and its theories directly hashing out what all this means
So throughout Art History is the example I am pulling from, In the Impressionist era of painting, many critics thought this art period was low or popular art was worth nothing. It did not hold to the standards of the Renaissance, where the Great Masters at one time painted. So many critics held the Renaissance as the standard and it has forever been institutionalized into the cannon of art history. The same standard goes for the representational art has more value with in the system than abstract art. Michelangelo supercedes Monet. Carroll in the Inventing Popular Culture defines “mass art from art first of all the way in which the former is produced, reproduced, and circulated by the mass media” (95). I think what he is saying is true because once Van Gogh, Monet, and Edvar Munch reached their peaked especially in the art history cannon. Their art has been massed produced everywhere on mugs, calendars, thank-you cards, prints you can own, and even paint by number. These painters and other artists are in homes who cannot afford a multi million dollar painting which would be as much as the original would cost. These art things are marketed to society because they speak to larger issue of consumerism, buying art at an average price.
Storey speaks about how popular culture drives consumerism. “Consumption is a significant part of the circulation of shared and conflicted meaning we call culture. We communicate through what we consume. Consumption is perhaps the most visible way in which we stage and perform the drama of self formation”(70). Popular culture sometimes defined by what is “in style”. The iPod is one that is redefining technology downloading songs that you can by for less than a dollar, watching your favorite videos on the new Video iPods. You can all the music that you want at your finger tips. You see iPod commercials and there is a worldwide craze for iPods. I feel like I should have an iPod, this is advertising at its best. The thing to do is not get a new portable CD player, but an iPod, the electronic age has dawned. Consumerism through what is popular can shape our identity. What we own can define us
For our group project in terms of ageism, I think some major questions to think about are at both ends of the age spectrum. One question raised is the older population able to handle the advancement of technology? To discredit their capability to access the internet or to operate an iPod is ageism. Some may be really good at handling the internet, I know many grandparents who communicate to their grandchildren through the internet and email. Like others many of us are really savvy at it and others are not no matter what our age. I know there are many classes offered to senior citizens and to other groups about the advancement technology. We as a society can learn many new things from the older population because they are experts themselves advancing through history as the culture around them is changing. This generation has seen TVs installed to the telephone shrunk down to mobile size.
One last comment about consumerism and fandom, “Objects of fandom become a part of our sense of identity; they become embedded in the roots of memory and the routes of desire” (89). Music can be objects of desire I went to a U2 concert for the very first time about almost a month ago. Experiencing the Vertigo tour was amazing. I will always remember the sounds and visual effects that will forever be burned in my brain. I desire to keep seeing them as long as they tour. In this experience, I stood in line all day to get 1st or 2nd row seats on the floor and it was an interesting to stand/sit in line for 8 hours with fans that follow U2 everywhere. It was an experience in itself to see all ages swapping stories of their time at each concert or to listen to conversations about the Bono and the Band like they were our closest friends. For 8 hours that day I was among a ready-made community that would watch your belongings, discuss issues, and I was surrounded by larger U2 fans than I was, but we were all there because we desired to listen to great music that has substance. In a way through U2 music they are trying to empower and transform people make a difference in the world. These are the interpretative practices that Storey speaks about. Popular culture comes in many forms and to understand it is sometimes a challenge, but it part of the world wide culture that makes it tick.
As we seen in our reading Inventing Popular Culture, there are many definitions to what constitutes popular culture. We can study popular culture as well as live it. What I mean by studying it is we analysis what are the theories behind it, such as what is defined as popular in many areas of society like in clothing, electronics, music, movies, and art. We can also study the distinctions already made throughout history. An example of this is through discipline of Art History especially in the discussion about the controversies over distinctions between high and low art. There are many different opinions on the subject, it is hard distinguish which theory is correct. Even thinking about the topic makes my brain hurt because since I have studied in the realm of Art History I feel like I am obligated to answer these questions. Wow I put tremendous pressure on myself to answer these circular questions I guess since this what I want to study this for the rest of my life, I feel like I should be well versed in this area of study. I am realizing that I am not satisfied with the typical answer “ it is all based on interpretations”, which is how I described most things in the artistic realm instead of having a 5 hour conversation based on what constitutes art or is there value to abstract art? So I give people the easiest answer that I can give “it is all based on interpretation” Which is partially true, but there is more to it then that. Reading this book, in a way created angst for me, because it made me realize I truly miss studying art and its theories directly hashing out what all this means
So throughout Art History is the example I am pulling from, In the Impressionist era of painting, many critics thought this art period was low or popular art was worth nothing. It did not hold to the standards of the Renaissance, where the Great Masters at one time painted. So many critics held the Renaissance as the standard and it has forever been institutionalized into the cannon of art history. The same standard goes for the representational art has more value with in the system than abstract art. Michelangelo supercedes Monet. Carroll in the Inventing Popular Culture defines “mass art from art first of all the way in which the former is produced, reproduced, and circulated by the mass media” (95). I think what he is saying is true because once Van Gogh, Monet, and Edvar Munch reached their peaked especially in the art history cannon. Their art has been massed produced everywhere on mugs, calendars, thank-you cards, prints you can own, and even paint by number. These painters and other artists are in homes who cannot afford a multi million dollar painting which would be as much as the original would cost. These art things are marketed to society because they speak to larger issue of consumerism, buying art at an average price.
Storey speaks about how popular culture drives consumerism. “Consumption is a significant part of the circulation of shared and conflicted meaning we call culture. We communicate through what we consume. Consumption is perhaps the most visible way in which we stage and perform the drama of self formation”(70). Popular culture sometimes defined by what is “in style”. The iPod is one that is redefining technology downloading songs that you can by for less than a dollar, watching your favorite videos on the new Video iPods. You can all the music that you want at your finger tips. You see iPod commercials and there is a worldwide craze for iPods. I feel like I should have an iPod, this is advertising at its best. The thing to do is not get a new portable CD player, but an iPod, the electronic age has dawned. Consumerism through what is popular can shape our identity. What we own can define us
For our group project in terms of ageism, I think some major questions to think about are at both ends of the age spectrum. One question raised is the older population able to handle the advancement of technology? To discredit their capability to access the internet or to operate an iPod is ageism. Some may be really good at handling the internet, I know many grandparents who communicate to their grandchildren through the internet and email. Like others many of us are really savvy at it and others are not no matter what our age. I know there are many classes offered to senior citizens and to other groups about the advancement technology. We as a society can learn many new things from the older population because they are experts themselves advancing through history as the culture around them is changing. This generation has seen TVs installed to the telephone shrunk down to mobile size.
One last comment about consumerism and fandom, “Objects of fandom become a part of our sense of identity; they become embedded in the roots of memory and the routes of desire” (89). Music can be objects of desire I went to a U2 concert for the very first time about almost a month ago. Experiencing the Vertigo tour was amazing. I will always remember the sounds and visual effects that will forever be burned in my brain. I desire to keep seeing them as long as they tour. In this experience, I stood in line all day to get 1st or 2nd row seats on the floor and it was an interesting to stand/sit in line for 8 hours with fans that follow U2 everywhere. It was an experience in itself to see all ages swapping stories of their time at each concert or to listen to conversations about the Bono and the Band like they were our closest friends. For 8 hours that day I was among a ready-made community that would watch your belongings, discuss issues, and I was surrounded by larger U2 fans than I was, but we were all there because we desired to listen to great music that has substance. In a way through U2 music they are trying to empower and transform people make a difference in the world. These are the interpretative practices that Storey speaks about. Popular culture comes in many forms and to understand it is sometimes a challenge, but it part of the world wide culture that makes it tick.
posted by Katrina @ 2:42 PM
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