Читать книгу Sociology of the Arts - Victoria D. Alexander - Страница 17

Since I cover the fine, popular, and folk arts, I need to have a term that includes them all. I will often refer to “the arts,” as I have in the title. More simply, I will refer both to the generic concept, and to individual pieces, as art. But as I have mentioned, this word can also be used in an honorific sense. For example, an especially good stunt motorcyclist might be described as an “artist” and his demonstration rides as “art” to separate this motorcyclist from ordinary bikers. I shall not use the term art in this sense. Likewise, “art” sometimes means only good art and often implies only the fine arts. I shall set aside this honorific use of “art”, and apply the term to mean any of the products created within the fine, popular, or folk arts realms. (We shall visit the idea of art and the honor attached to it later in the book, however.)

Other scholars have come to different solutions to the same problem. Griswold (2013: 11) uses the term cultural object, which she defines as “A shared significance embodied in form” – it is “audible, or visible, or tangible” or “can be articulated.” I will also use the terms “object” (as in artistic or cultural object) or “work” (as in artwork or work of art) to refer to individual pieces. I tend to use art, object, or work interchangeably. In general, I use these terms to refer to artistic endeavors that produce a product (a painting, a CD, a book, a film) as well as those that produce a performance (a ballet, live music).