(FB 1548545500 Timestamp) THE SELF-REGULATION OF THE ARTS –Art is a way of making an idea real (open to experience). Art is the demonstrated property of an artist. Art is governed by established rules and principles and demonstrates an observance of limits on what is permitted or appropriate.”—Spencer Young This is .. really good structure. Rarely good structure. Pls let me suggest a tweak to your thought process a bit, and to riff off this opportunity to educate others: –“…governed by…”— This phrase is an analogy, not a description. Is art ‘governed?’. No. The process of regulation is much more elegant than that.
- There exist economic costs of the production of different art forms.
- There exist civilizations capable of paying the costs of different art forms (or not).
- There exist technologies within each craft as well as the craft of aesthetics.
- There exists symbolic content and aesthetic composition that ‘brands’ periods (states of development).
- There exists mastery of the craft, the aesthetics, and the informational(symbolic) content.
- There exists a tradition in all of the above (market).
- There exists imitation that causes that tradition(market).
- There are canons (reference works) that reinforce imitation and tradition (standards of weights and measures);
- There is a market for imitation, canons, and the art itself.
This is one of those deceptively hard questions of art theory. As far as I know, art is an ancient, even eternal, self-regulating market that ‘demonstrates demand for art works within both current and traditional limits of craftsmanship, aesthetics, meaning, context of display, and morals/ethics/manners (appropriateness).” There is plenty of ‘market manipulation’ in the arts, and it has been so forever. Just like every other market. However, professionals are rarely fooled. And tradition of the heroic value of arts continues unabated. (thanks for letting me riff with this)
