This book provides a novel approach to the understanding and realization of the values of art. It argues that art has often been instrumentalized for state-building, to promote social inclusion of diversity, or for economic purposes such as growth or innovation. To counteract that, the authors study the values that artists and audiences seek to realize in the social practices around the arts. They develop the concept of cultural civil society to analyze how art is practiced and values are realized in creative circles and co-creative communities of spectators. The insights are illustrated with case-studies about hip-hop, Venetian art collectives, dance festivals, science-fiction fandom, and a queer museum. The authors provide a four-stage scheme that illustrates how values are realized in a process of value orientation, imagination, realization, and evaluation.
The book relies on an interdisciplinary approach rooted in economics and sociology of the arts, with an appreciation for broader social theories. It integrates these disciplines in a pragmatic approach based on the work of John Dewey and more recent neo-pragmatist work to recover the critical and constructive role that cultural civil society plays in a plural and democratic society. The authors conclude with a new perspective on cultural policy, centered around state neutrality towards the arts and aimed at creating a legal and social framework in which social practices around the arts can flourish and co-exist peacefully.
Author(s): Erwin Dekker, Valeria Morea
Series: Cultural Economics & the Creative Economy
Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 160
City: Cham
Preface
Acknowledgments
Contents
List of Figures
1 A Pragmatic Approach to Art
Let’s Unwrap the Argument…
There Are Many Different Values, and New Ones Are Discovered Irregularly
Values Can Clash with Each Other, Sometimes Violently
Measuring Values Requires Engagement with Artistic Practices
Here Is How We Will Proceed
References
2 What Values Are, and How We Learn to Appreciate Them
Market Goods and Other People Are Essential
Values Are Embedded in Social Practices
The Context of Values Are Orders of Worth
The Values of a Hip-Hop Artist
Value Discovery
References
3 How Artists Imagine New Worlds
Forget the Solitary Genius, Artists Imagine Together
Artists Operate in Circles, Which Are Sustained Through Contributions
Circles Benefit From the Proximity of Circles in Neighboring Disciplines
Within Circles, Knowledge Is Generated, and Artists Imagine New Possibilities
Modernists Imagined Too Wildly, Postmodernists Too Ironically
A New Form of Imagination Is in the Making
Imaging and Living a Different Venice
Contemporary Imagination Is About the Development of Social Practices Which Embody Values
References
4 How Participants Make Values Real
Audiences Do Not Undergo Art, They Co-create It
Co-creation Is Frequently Invited by Contemporary Artists and Technologies
It Is Impossible to Understand the Performing Arts Without Co-creation
Even in Highly Commercial Settings, There Is Extensive Co-creation
The Queer Museum in Brazil Demonstrates the Importance of Institutional Diversity
Informal Practices Are Not Always Long-Lasting and That Is Probably a Good Thing
References
5 Making Space for Cultural Civil Society
The Diversity of Social Practices Around the Arts Constitutes Cultural Civil Society
Cultural Civil Society Often Flies Under the Radar, but it Can Be Mapped
Cultural Civil Society Operates at the Intersection of the Private and the Public Sphere
Public Values Might Converge, but Co-Existence and Tolerance Are Primary
Making Space Means Fostering Diversity and Protecting Minorities
Making Space: Marginal Improvements
References
6 Epilogue: Imagining a Heterotopia
References
References
Index
