Social Functions of Art
Art performs a social function when:
It influences a human group: for instance, what products sell well because of their package design?
It is made to be seen or used in public situations. Look at the Murals of Diego Rivera or Maya Lin's Vietnam Veteran's Memorial.
It describes aspects of life shared by all as opposed to personal kinds of experience. Examine the works of Norman Rockwell, political cartoons and charicature.
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In all these cases, viewers respond with the awareness that they are members of a group. Artists may try to make us laugh at the same things; to accept certain religious, economic, or social ideologies; to identify with a particular class or ethnic interest; or to see our social situation in new ways. The visual arts can function as languages of praise and celebration, anger and protest, satire and ridicule. Advertising art is a common illustration.
Some people think that art designed to influence social behavior is corrupt, impure, "mere" propaganda, and so on. We could not present a complete or accurate picture of art if we ignored its role as propaganda, for example; the history of art offers many examples. It also shows that the excellence of an artwork is often unrelated to its purpose.
Political and Ideological Expression
Some artists are interested in the freedom to solve special problems of style or technique. Others use style and technique to express their social and political views. They may speak of their artistic responsibility: art does not exist merely to entertain, it must guide and instruct; it must improve our collective existence. Eugene Delacroix "Liberty Leading the People" is one of the early monuments of revolutionary art.
Artistic Expressions of Humanitarian Concern
Perhaps the most monumental painting of social protest in our time is Picasso's Guernica. It depicts the Nazi German bombing of Guernica, Spain, by twenty-four bombers, on April 26, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. It's intense emotional content inspired enormous sympathy for the Spanish people.
Schindler's List and the Italian movie Life is Beautiful each portray the horrors of the Holocaust, but in very different manners. Rent and watch as much of either of these great films as you can stand. Be warned that they graphically portray the horrors of the holocaust, and are extremely difficult to watch. How can these films be so successful (11 Academy Awards between them), and so ghastly at the same time?
Satire
The social function of satire is to ridicule people and institutions so that they will change. Satire has roots in our fascination with the grotesque, and making grotesque images of real or imagined people is a universal practice. William Hogarth, Honore Daumier, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Duane Hanson are all satirical artists. (Caution: Jeff Koons sometimes makes extremely explicit sexual imagery. Searching Koons is NSFW)
Graphic Communication
Art can also be and inexpensive public language. Cheaply reproduced visual images communicate with amazing persuasiveness, and, combined with words, their meaning is clear and unmistakable. Art plays a crucial role in carrying information from government, business, and industry to every social group or subgroup we can imagine.
Assignment for Posting
Find examples of each of these categories on the web, and post images with your reasons for choosing them in the forum.
Post your responses to other students' ideas.