The Dynamics of an Art World in Flux

Since being tagged with the moniker of the “art world” it has stayed true to the attributes of a world. In the fashion of constant evolution and adaptation, the theories that the art world rally behind may alter and waver but the support behind these ideologies do not. The early stance of the art world saw a narrow scope of acceptance whereas today discrimination is nearly defunct. More importantly the role of the artist has changed. From someone who creates an original artifact, to a person who participates with understanding in the making of a work of art, according to Dickie. Because of this I believe that the construction of today’s art world heavily influences how it operates.

“Contemporary visual art can be studied as a form of media and communication: it intersects with, but must differentiate itself from, all forms of visual media.” With the boom of

advertisements turning to the arts, the viewer now has to fine tune their ability and knowledge to be able to differentiate what is art and what is not art. This is asking much more from the audience than in the early days of Greenbergian rhetoric where if you saw something that abstract expressionist in nature, it was art. Today that might be a witty new campaign for a clothing company. The phenomenon that is happening now is that art has to compete for our attention, in our culture where we are bombarded with imagery every waking moment.

“One function of the artworld is to supply the learned differentiating codes for distinguishing art from other forms of media, communication, and