Society, culture, transportation, economics, politics, the environment, communication, languages, tourism, finances, education, and the list can go on and on. All of these things have at least one thing in common: they’ve all felt the impact of globalization at one point or another.
Having said that, could you imagine other aspects of life that globalization has shaken up? I’m sure it’s possible—there are many. Nonetheless, would you ever have considered art? I’ve got to say, I’m very much into art, and not once did the repercussions globalization had on art enter my mind. Sure, art is a big part of culture, but I think it deserves special recognition. It also allows for further distortion of globalization, leading us further away from the popularized economics and politics behind it.
Art was, at one point, one of the more important things in our lives, and today it continues to have importance, although, admittedly, its influence has been diminishing. Even so, art has the ability to impact people grandly. In its most basic stage, art is an ability we as humans have to create, something that is very appealing to most.
So, what does this have to do with globalization? Quite a bit.
Globalization and technology alike have forced many artists to reconsider the world of art—especially here in the U.S. As we’re well aware, globalization seems to be charging at us from many different ways at full force. This drive has led new art collectors to spring up from varied parts of the globe. As a result, the steady hold that America and Europe have on the art world is crumbling.
As curators Chrissie Iles and Philippe Vergne rightly express it, “The definition of what constitutes American is in dramatic flux. Artists are moving around the world with an ever greater fluidity.” (Globalization, Technology Changing the Art World)
Leaving ownership of the art world aside, the way art is perceived is also taking a drastic change. That’s nothing new to us; we’ve seen it happen before. Artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein are great indicators of that, changing American perception of art from flawless and classy paintings to stylized soup cans and comic strips. These acts blurred the set definition of what art was making it harder for people to distinguish what art was.
Recently, with the internet having a strong foundation and the emergence and rise of digital culture, our boundaries on art are being further distorted—and not in a bad way. This broadening of the boundaries have flattened and banished the beliefs that only delicate paintings, detailed statues, and skilled sketches are the only real types of art. As a result of this, a digital recreation of an everyday object can rival a beautifully drawn sketch of a panda in popularity and superior reception.
Prostructuralism—a belief which taught many generations to ‘view art as epiphenomena of language, culture, and desire’—seems to be sprouting once more and taking the globe by storm under the guidance of globalization. (The Work of Art in an Age of Diversity and Globalization)
Personally, I think that the effects of globalization are far reaching even though they may sometimes be more harmful than helpful. Nonetheless, in this case, I think it’s safe to say that globalization has done our world a great favor. By expanding the boundaries of art through its effects on culture, technology, communication, and society, globalization has allowed for new forms of art to emerge and grow popular. With this new type of emerging art, come new aficionados, as well. This might be problematic for curators and museum directors at first, seeing as they must expand their collections to satisfy a new group of devotees while still keeping their traditional art-lovers content, but, I feel that soon these problems will straighten themselves out.
Afterwards, we’re left with a world once again interested in the ‘finer things in life’. And for those fearing great change, there are no worries. In a way, this is a return to our roots—one of the rare outcomes of globalization.
– Mario
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This was great, Mario. I never really thought about art being affected by globalization, particularly in terms of what has evolved. Modern art being born out of globalization, and especially the impact of Andy Warhol, and how we now view objects now, transformed, as art was really fascinating. Furthermore, the dying interest in art now being refreshed as art becomes less of a delicate, overly sophisticated pursuit, and more of something that we can all partake of… it was very interesting. Thanks for the insight, as always.