Arts and Politics

It is likely that in all human societies, artistic and aesthetic processes have been deeply embedded in relations of power, domination, struggle and critique. Anthropologist Alfred Gell has characterized art as a “technology of enchantment,” through which fields of influence are extended over persons and social networks in the pursuit of varying sociopolitical agendas.

On one level, the 19th century emergence of ideologies of “art for art sake” formally divorced artistic production from relations of patronage and overtly political orientations; at other levels, these developments embedded artistic practices ever more intimately in forms of state power and surveillance, as well as class, racial and gendered hierarchies. The unresolved contradictions inherent in this complex history have generated intense contests over the proper position of art in the public sphere, struggles that continue to rage until this day.

Important theoretical and practical issues include:

  • When is it useful to conceive of art as fundamentally “apolitical”? Under what circumstances should art be conceived of as political practice?
  • How are we to understand the “art wars” in present-day museums and related institutions? Are these proxy battles over a set of political interests that are not primarily related to art? To what extent do current battles over art in the public sphere reprise earlier religious debates over inconoclasm and the power of images?
  • When the state pays for art, what legitimate restrictions, if any, may state agencies and actors place upon art displayed in public venues?
  • What are the most effective strategies and registers in “activist art”? Does activist art necessarily entail a suppression of principles of beauty and aesthetic evaluation, as these terms are usually understood?

Specialists and Resource Persons

  • Mark Auslander (Anthropology)
  • Cynthia Cohen (Coexistence)
  • Tom King (English and American Literature)
  • Charles McClendon (Fine Arts)
  • Ellen Schattschneider (Anthropology)
  • Nancy Scott (Fine Arts)
  • Faith Smith (English and American Literature; African and Afro-American Studies)

Related Courses at Brandeis

  • Museums and Public Memory (ANTH 159a )
  • Coexistence, Cultural Work and the Arts(COEX 250a)
  • Visuality and Culture (ANTH 130b)
  • Cross-Cultural Art and Aesthetics(ANTH 184b)
  • Sociology of Culture (SOC 221b)

Related Online Resources

The Art of Charles H. Nelson
www.charleshnelson.com/

ArtForum
www.artforum.com/

Art Museums in the region:
brandeis.edu/departments/fine_arts/resources.html

Cultural Agents Initiative
http://culturalagents.org/
Cultural Politics (journal)
www.bergpublishers.com/uk/culture/culture_about.htm

 Guerrilla Girls
www.guerrillagirls.com/