CHALMERS, F. Graeme. Aesthetic Experience and Social Status

8/20/2019 CHALMERS, F. Graeme. Aesthetic Experience and Social Status

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F

G

raeme C ha

lmers

A

s

sistant Pr

ofessor Dep

artm ent o F

ine A rts

ir

G eorge Wi l

l iams Univer

si ty Mont rea

l.

Art

serves

as

an aid in iden

ti fy ing socia

l

pos i t ion.

Adr ian G erb

rands,

1

a Du

tch

a

nthropo logis

t , pos i ts tha

t the socia l

s tatus

aspect is the m ost comm on funct ion of art,

excep

t ing the re lig

ious one. In

th is pape r

some h is

tor ica l , e thn

ologica l , and

con tem

por

ary aspects

of th is phenom

ena wi l l

be

exam

ined.

Th

e maintenan

ce

of

a h ie r

arch ica l soc

ial

s truc

ture seems

to

directly

en

courage the

develo p

ment

of

cert

a in ar t objec

ts. Where a

so

c iety has de

veloped to

incl

ude

pres id

ents,

kings, the pr iesthood, etc.

as

establ ished insti

tu t ions, t

here appear

s to have ari

sen the

need to exp

ress and str

engthen thes

e socia l

pos it io

ns through

symbols suc

h

as

crests,

monumen

ts , ins ignias

, seals, and

wear ing

apparel . The

carved hou

se fronts of

the New

Zea

land Maori,

the totem p

oles of the N

or th

west Coas

t Indians , an

d the e labo

rate head

dresses of th

e Plains Ind

ians each sy

mbol ized

the

status of the

owners

in the i r soc ie ti

es.

Egypt ian fu

nerary ar t is a s imi lar example

of

consp icu

ous d isplay

. Wingert2 re

por ts that

3 2

am on

g the Bapen

de peop les i

n the wester

n

par t

of

th

e Congo, ea

ch youth wo

re, af ter

in i t ia t ion ri t

es, a smal l,

carved iv

ory maskette

ar

ound h is nec

k. These em

blems ind ic

a ted

ful l- f l

edged mem

bership in th

e

dult tr

iba

l

society. La r

ger ivory m a

sk min iatu re

s were

wor

n

on the upp

er a rm by m

embers

of

t

he

Warega tr ibe in the nor theastern Congo

region. T

hey ind icate

d the grade

s they had

ach ieved

in their secret

societies. In

var ious

parts

of Ocean ia sh

el ls were wo

rn as

decor -

t ive ind ica

t ions

of

ra nk

. Not all fac

e and bod y

p

aint ing, sca r

i f icat ion ,

or ta too ing was

rel

igi-

ousl

y prescr ibed

by

tradit io n

. Probab ly a

good d

eal

of

i t was

used as

an express ion

o

f

sh

eer vanity, b

u t some

of i t denoted th

e rank

or

sta

tus

of

an in

d iv idua l w it

hin his grou

p,

and thus had prestige value. In short, m any

objects

in p

r imi t ive soc

ieties and c

ontempo

rary c

ul tures giv e

prest ige

to th ir

owners

by

ind ica

t ing that the

owner can

afford these

luxuries

or

d

isplay i tem s

, or that h is

rank

is h

igh enough

that he is e

l ig ib le

to

po

ssess

them.

A per t inen t

example

is the cerem on

ial

Spread the ed

Wil l iam K

luba , 1974


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s

old. (b)

By

produc

ing w orks so

uncom

prom

ising ly big,

s tark and un

wie ldy that

no

bourgeo

is could see

k to use the

m as f latter

ing decor

or sta tus sym

bols. (c) By

produc ing

wo

rks of an im

personal or

non-gestura

l

chara

cter which l

end themsel

ves to mass

product ion ,

and wh ich ,

therefore , ev

eryone

ca

n own rather

than just th

e wealthy el

i te.

The avant-garde is thus produc ing work

w hich is

fundamenta l

ly democra t i

c in charac

ter

designed

for

consum

pt ion by al l .

A rt , then ,

has a spec i f

ical ly econo

mic aspect

w

hich phi loso

phers may

have tended

to

igno

re as isolate

d from , and

irrelevant to

, the

meanin

g of art. Lo

uis Harap w

rote that

p

hi losophers

have to

o li t t le under

stood

how

the economi

c permeates

all aspects

of

the creat ive process . In the past soc iologists

have viewed

art s the

expression o

f the

art is t

's mi lieu

or

o

f vague rac

ia l or

social

fo rce s.

Only the ma

teria lists, he

states,

al tho

ugh I do no

t necessari ly

agree, have

grasped

th e crucia

l s ign i f icanc

e of the

art ist 's par

t ic ipa t ion in

product ion a

nd of the

st

atus of his pr

oduct as a

commodi ty ,

for

they

have had to

l ive by it .

Harap ci tes

an

example

in seventee

nth century

Hol land,

w h

ere , for inst

ance , paint in

gs were oft

en

excha

nged for go

ods at the fa

ir sta lls. He

cont inues But phi losophers have for t he most

pa

rt discou

rsed air i ly ab

out art as th

ough

su

ch facts had

no bear ing

on aesthet ic

s.

They

did not see that

the necessi

ty of sat isfy

i

ng the purch

aser of art

tended to m

odify

w ha

t the art is t s

aid and how

he said it.

4

The statu

s of ar t

s

a

com modity,

o

r as an

inve

stment, who

se possessio

n may incre

ase

The n

te rsection

Wil l iam

Kluba , 1974

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Documents

CHALMERS, F. Graeme. Aesthetic Experience and Social Status