chalmers, f. graeme. aesthetic experience and social status
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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
3 5
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