Tuesday 22 May 2012

REVISITED ESSAY


Could it be argued that fine art ought to be assigned more 'value' than more popular forms of Visual Communication?

This essay will look at the assigned values of Fine art compared to Visual communication and whether all ‘Art’ deserves the prestige name and value it has gained.  The rivalry between the two disciplinary has been ever live. Both have strong points and weak points within them, which will get explored in this essay.
Before technologies, what gave art high value was how unique it was. A painting could only be in one place at one time, meaning its audience would have to travel to experience it. This gave art a very specialised, elite audience and made their experience rare and unique to that person. This is not true for graphic design as design is everywhere, you do not have to travel to see it. The audience for graphic design is not specific or elite, it is the general public, which technically means graphic design is of less value. This elite art vs. everyday graphic design argument could have been a strong argument proving art has more value, but due to the production of technologies, it is true no more.

The painting on the wall like the human eye, can only be in one place at one time. The camera reproduces it making it available at any size, anywhere, for any purpose.’   (S. Berger, 1972, ways of seeing ep 1, 3.23)

Berger makes the point that due to the advance in technologies, art is no longer for the elite; it can be accessed by the masses. You no longer have to make that special effort to go visit it, you can view it in your house, on a screen, you now see art in the context of your own life. The fact that art is now available for the masses decreases its assigned value, and makes it on par with graphic design. Art is no longer something that you need to travel to see, art now comes to you.

Another argument about what makes something valuable is the longevity. If something has more of a long lasting meaning or presence it is said to have a higher value.

The argument to be considered here is that fine are and graphic design are different from each other because art is culturally more significant than graphic design. Where art is perceived to be of lasting value, graphic design is said to be ‘ephemeral’ (Cronan 2000: 216).’ (Barnard, 2005, pg165)

This is saying that art is more valuable than graphic design as it had a lasting presence, where as graphic design is something that comes and goes and is ever changing. This is still true today in the sense that the product of art is permanent and the product of graphic design can be impermanent, such as flyers or packaging, but there are more cross over’s today. Graphic design posters, such as advertisements or music posters are getting more popular to have in the home. The longevity of the meaning is also increasing within graphic design as graphic design gets more popular, graphic products and campaigns are becoming more memorable. Art however is going the opposite way. Art is becoming more conceptual and less permanent; it is more about the idea then creating a permanent piece of art.

When it comes down to it today, the thing that influences the value of art on such a high level is money.

‘I don’t want to suggest that there is nothing left to experience before original works of art except, a certain sense of awe because they have survived, because they are genuine because they are absurdly valuable, a lot more is possible but only if art is stripped of the false mystery and false religiosity which surrounds it this religiosity is usually linked with cash value. ‘ (S.Berger, 1972, ways of seeing ep 1, 2:39)

Berger is stating that the money value of the artwork has taken over the underpinning value of art how it used to be viewed. With this barrage of false value from the money you cannot determine the actual value of the art unless you strip it back and get rid of the money value. This is something that would never happen today, money has become too much of an importance and poignant part of life today that it does now underpin and state how valuable a piece of art or graphics is.

Tracey Emin is an example of an artist who is seen as and is very ‘valuable’, but this is up for debate.  Her pieces lack value in the sense of skill. The pieces she does are all very much concept based. Her work is not beautiful or unique but it does evoke a reaction, be it disgust, confusion or dismay. The piece that has caused controversy is ‘my bed’. Is it art? Is it not art?  

‘The objects that provoke this emotion we call works of art. All sensitive people agree that there is a peculiar emotion provoked by works of art. I do not mean, of course, that all works provoke the same emotion. On the contrary, every work produces a different emotion.’ (Bell, 2008,p1)

According to the theory of Clive Bell, it is art. But does it have value? Charles Saatchi bought the piece for  £150,000, and by doing so he added value to the piece physically and psychologically to the public.

‘Charles's achievement here was massive in almost every sense. He invented a new movement – something every critic and curator dreams of doing.’ (Lewis, B, 2011, p1)

Saatchi’s name has such power and respect that he is able to buy the work of the likes of Emin and Damien Hirst and in turn transform their work and them into almost celebrity figures with the value of their work escalading to unthinkable prices. So is the real value of Emin’s work completely down to Saatchi, How much would it have been worth if it wasn’t for him investing in it? As for the value of the art itself, is that truly there if it is aimed at such an elite audience to appreciate the ‘art’ as art and not just a reaction piece.

A recent piece of graphic design that like Tracey Emin’s work has a debatable value to it is the 2012 Olympics logo for England. This logo has been under scrutiny ever since it was released, this has definitely brought attention and interest to it, but unlike in fine art not all attention is good. In graphic design, the object must serve the function and therefore if it is seen as bad or un readable, the designer has failed to achieve the outcome. The 2012 logo has a lot of value generated for it, like Emin, from the name it was invested by. The Olympics is a prestige, world wide, renowned and respected event so this adds value to the logo right away. Value is also added by the fact it is representing it’s country. But just because it has a high ‘value’ does not mean the piece is worthy of it.

‘The Olympics should exist to raise our collective hopes, expectations and sights. This logo, though, is one of the saddest modern sights of all, and this from a city that produced the rightly world-famous London Transport logo. There are no medals here. Only "rubbish".’ (Glancey J, 2007, p1)

The designers were paid £400,000 for this logo, so again this adds literal value to this piece of graphic design, they were paid so highly not because the piece was worth that much but just because of the name, which is the same scenario as Emin and Saatchi.

The Logo does not represent the grand event that is The Olympics coming to England. If you were to take away the five Olympic rings in the ‘0’ you would not be ale to see the Olympic connection, again if you take away the London in the 2, you would not know where the Olympics is happening, For £400,000 you would expect these things. There is no visual value to this logo.


So which is the rightful owner of being seen as having more value, graphic design or fine art? Neither. Value is a word corrupt these days by money, just because a piece of art or graphic design has a high value does not mean it is valuable in the sense to society. The most valuable art and graphics is the stuff that we can understand at face value, appreciate and admire, and both go hand in hand. Although Graphics may be more functional and always has an aim, so in that sense is very valuable. Fine arts function is to entertain people and look good, which can also be the aim of graphics. They overlap. Value is in the quality of the work what ever that may be, just because it is art does not make it valuable, just because it is graphic design does not make a piece valuable. If a piece is innovative and conveys whatever the artist/designer wants to portray in a beautiful and clever way that is what makes either disciplinary valuable, not money, not status.



Bibliography
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Glancey, J. (2007). How Lisa Simpson got ahead at the Olympics. Available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/artblog/2007/jun/05/howlisasimpsontooktheolym. Last accessed 22nd Jan 2012.
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