Sunday, February 7, 2010

Formal Essay Proposal

The essay will discuss the 'authenticity' of Graphic Design and the 'authenticity' of Art, asking the question can contemporary fine art be judged as more authentic than contemporary design? Topics it will cover:
-What makes Fine Art Authentic, what makes it devoid of authenticity as argued by Adorno.
-In relation to the above point, does this make Graphic Design strictly pop culture?
-Traditional roles of design
-The triad of thesis, ant-thesis and synthesis set out by Hegel in relation to pop, neo-pop and lowbrow art, how design elements are potentially elevated to 'authentic' status
-the emergence of pop culture in fine art, i.e. The School of Saatchi on BBC that used X-Factor like talent scouting and varying audition phases to find the new artist.
-Socially aware design and whether it's purpose can elevate it's authenticity or not.

I intend to focus on Marxist theories on culture and communication theory specifically focusing in on the works of Adorno and Hegel.

Working bibliography:
Adorno, T.W, (2004) Aesthetic Theory, London: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
Adorno, T.W, (1954) How To Look At TV, The Quarterly of Film Radio and Television, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 213-235
Hegel
G. W. F, (1975), Aesthetics. Lectures on Fine Art, trans. T. M. Knox, 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Massey, W.E, (1990), Highbrow-lowbrow: Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America,
Boston: Harvard University Press
Swirski, P. (2005) From Lowbrow to Nobrow, Canada: McGill-Queen's University Press,
The School of Saatchi, episode 1. (2009). The British Broadcasting Company, Channel Two. 23 November 2009. 21:00.