Essay Final: A Detailed Critical Analysis of a Cultural Text

In this essay, I offer a detailed critical analysis of Warhol's reproduction of Mona Lisa using Walter Benjamin's ' Art in the Age of Mechanical reproduction'. I will outline first the wider context of the terms art reproduction and appropriation, then sketching their relationship to industrialisation and finally offering my own views as an art student. My reason for picking up this subject is the feeling of disturbance and curiosity in my mind about the desirability of Mona Lisa being as strong as ever despite blatant reproductions produced over the centuries. My recent visit to the Louvre only heightened this disturbance – there I was along with streams of visitors mesmerised by this painting of Lisa del Giocondo by Leonardo da Vinci. (Figure 1) I felt this aura and some kind of magnetism that did not diminish when I went to the museum shop and saw ‘Mona Lisa on books, t-shirts...you name it. Why did that mystique and magnetism not diminish?

First of all, there is no denying that a reproduction is not the same as the original artwork. The artist who understood this best was Andy Warhol famous for his infinite series of repetitive prints. The Mona Lisa has been one of the most reproduced images as it has been used in advertising, consumer products and art history. One of the foremost examples is Duchamp's rendering of a moustache and goatee on a cheap postcard size reproduction of the Mona Lisa which saw the beginning of the 'readymade reproduction'. (Figure 2) These reproductions made the meanings of art ambiguous.

Pop artist Andy Warhol recognised the fact that the Mona Lisa was as famous as the celebrity Marilyn Monroe and as such fame was a commodity and that endless replications of the celebrity's face made it so. Warhol adapted a technique from commercial printing, in which a photographic image could be transferred to a canvas by pushing paint through a silkscreen. Warhol made numerous copies in various colours and sizes, these copies can be deemed as appropriation of art. (Figure 3)

'All my images are the same, but very different at the same time... Isn't life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?'(Bockris,V. (1989): 326)

Nobody can mistake Warhol's Mona Lisa as the Renaissance original. (Keats, J. 2013) Warhol proved that legitimate art could be as powerful as the counterfeit. He showed the extent to which the forger’s art can be appropriated, the mantle of anxiety reclaimed.

Warhol’s prints were numbered with the lowest numbers being the most valuable as if retaining the idea of the ‘aura of the original’ as described by Walter Benjamin.

 With industrialisation and modern technological means of reproduction the relationship between art and the masses changed. Knowledge concerning the art of the past can now reach a larger proportion of the world’s population. However this mechanisation not only brings about autonomy of the art but also undermines or rather dispels the aura of fine art as quoted by Walter Benjamin

 ‘'Reproductive technology, we might say in general terms, removes the thing reproduced from the realm of tradition. In making[...]it actualizes what is reproduced'. (Benjamin, W.2008:7)

In the Journal of Philosophy of Education, The Re-reading of Benjamin’s theory of mechanical reproduction, Nick Peim has explained that aura seems to signify something of the symbolic halo generated by objects of special significance that is both powerful and indefinite. He has argued that aura is in fact the necessary property of symbolic representation.

Benjamin identifies the effect of mechanisation as progressive. The merger of creative and cultural industries would open the arts to a wider audience .Machines which were regarded as weapons of art destruction are actually complex tools that can be used to artistic advantage as is evident in Warhol’s prints. What Warhol extracted from mass culture was repetition.

Benjamin’s ideas have been reiterated in the past by writers as Malraux whose theory of museum-without-walls can be summarised as an imaginary museum of images that have been reproduced and are made universally available to any individual at all times. (Walker, John A. (1983): 70) .These reproductions give an impression of homogeneity of artworks which are originally more disparate than they appear in reproduction.

Contrary to this was Adorno, a German-American theorist from the Frankfurt School of thought, who vehemently argued that the products of mass culture are predictable and homogenous, maintaining social authority and encouraging people to become indifferent and conform. The mass public has trouble distinguishing between the real and the illusionary. Adorno expresses his displeasure quite strongly at the neutralization of the critical capacity of particular forms and techniques through their instrumental use, leading to increased marginalisation of authentic art. Thus Adorno argues: ‘To paint a la cubist in the year 1970 is like making advertising posters. And the originals are not immune, either, to this kind of sell out’ (Benjamin, A, 1992: 38-39)

But isn’t this what the people want? Images are most remembered when simple, clear and repetitions. We absorb rather than inspect. Indifference becomes our second skin.

As I reflect on both sides of the argument, I asked myself a question –has the religious aura really been dissipated? The cult-value surrounding it may have been replaced by exhibition-value, but the function of the museum is to preserve the aura of the work of art and to externalise it. While reviewing and studying art, I have always felt that the aura still remains a function of the originals. The evidence of this is the genre known as art photography – where some photographic prints are being bought and sold at auction rooms for high prices in just the same way as handmade articles.

Finally, ‘How does it impact me as an Art Student’? This was an interesting question, because at this point in time, as an Art student I would be naturally biased towards the benefits of mechanical reproduction and other forms of art accessibility. This is simply because it lets me view, feel, know about the art-work and go into the mind of the artist without necessarily travelling miles to the place where it originated. I cannot help but think about the core of Benjamin’s argument: the traditional work of art had a presence, an aura, which was the result of its uniqueness, its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.

 A widely held belief is that the effect of mechanical reproduction was to eliminate the work’s aura and to emancipate it from its dependence upon ritual. Whilst I agree this could be a consequence of the advent of technology leading to mechanisation of the arts, it has had a positive impact as well. The impact that I refer to is the fact that technological innovations of this kind had a progressive potential, in that they democratised the means of artistic production. The mechanical method of silk screen that Warhol discovered has been universally adopted by many artists. This nature of mass imagery has fascinated other artists like Roy Lischenstein as well.

Personally, I feel comforted by the fact that the aura does not really dissipate by different forms of mechanical reproduction and high visibility. In fact I would argue that the mystique and the desirability are heightened. I took the liberty of talking to a few visitors at the museum and did an informal survey. The majority of the responses concurred with my view. However, this would remain a subjective opinion, as exemplified by Adorno’s strongly held beliefs of marginalisation of art due to mass availability.

Bibliography

Books

Benjamin.A, (1992 ) Problems of Modernity: Adorno and Benjamin .Cornwall: T.J.Press Ltd.

Benjamin,W (2008) The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Translated by J.A. Underwood. London: Penguin Books.

Berger, J.( 1972) Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books

Bockris,V. (1989)The Life and Death of Andy Warhol. New York: Bantam Books

 

Vygotsky,Lev S.(1971) The Psychology Of Art . Translated by Scripta Technica,Inc.U.S.A:The M.I.T. Press

Walker, John A. (1983) Art in the Age of Mass Media .London: Pluto Press Limited

Welchman, J C. (2003) Art After Appropriation: Essays on Art in the 1990s.Malta: G+B Arts International

 

Electronic Journals

 

Ganis, W.V. (2000) Andy Warhol’s Iconophilia. Invisible Culture [online] Issue 3. [Accessed on 21 March2014]

Peim, N. (2007) Walter Benjamin in the Age of digital reproduction: Aura in Education: A re reading of ‘the Work Of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’. Journal of Philosophy of Education. Volume 41, Issue 3

 

Television programme & educational video viewed on the Internet

 

John Berger/ Ways of Seeing ( 1972) Series 1, Episode 1-4 .BBC, 1972. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk [Accessed 14 Feb 2014]

  The Shock Of The New (2014)Culture as Nature, Episode 7. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgYDuA-fBLg [Accessed on26 March 2014]

 

Website

 

Keats,J( 2013)If Every Artist were as good as Andy Warhol ,Forgery Would be Unnecessary (Book Excerpt-Forged:Why Fakes Are The Great Art Of Our Age, Oxford University Press)Available from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathonkeats/2013/01/17/if-every-artist-were-as-good-as-andy-warhol-forgery-would-be-unnecessary-book-excerpt/ [ Accessed on 27 March 2013]

Khan, Y S. (2012)The Political Aesthetic in the Works of Adorno and Benjamin.Available from: http://radicalnotes.com/2012/03/02/the-political-aesthetic-in-the-works-of-adorno-and-benjamin/ [Accessed on 22 March 2014]

Musee du Louvre ( 2005)A Closer Look At The Mona Lisa. Available from: http://musee.louvre.fr/oal/joconde/indexEN.html [Accessed 14 Feb 2014]

Robinson,A. (2014)An A to Z of theory/Walter Benjamin: Art, Aura And Authenticity. Available from:

http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/walter-benjamin-art-aura-authenticity/ [Accessed on 20 March 2014]

 

Figure 1

Vinci,L.( 1503-06)Mona Lisa[poplar wood].At :Louvre Museum,Paris. Available from http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/mona-lisa-%E2%80%93-portrait-lisa-gherardini-wife-francesco-del-giocondo [Accessed 15 Feb 2014]

 

 

Figure 2

Duchamp,M. ( 1919) L.H.O.O.Q [ pencil on postcard] At Museum Of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou. Available from http://www.marcelduchamp.net/L.H.O.O.Q.php

[Accessed 15 Feb 2014]

 

Figure 3

Warhol, A. (1979) Mona Lisa [acrylic and silkscreen ink on canvas]

At: Metropolitan Museum Of Art, NY[online] Available from http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/489409

[Accessed 29 march 2014]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Essay Draft 3 !

 

In this essay, I offer a detailed critical analysis of Warhol's Mona Lisa ( Figure 1)using Walter Benjamin's ' Art in the Age of Mechanical reproduction'. I will outline first the wider context of the terms art reproduction and appropriation, then sketching their relationship to industrialisation and modern art and finally offering my own views as an art student.
 
There is no denying that a reproduction is not the same as the original artwork. During my recent visit to Paris , I went to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa.( Figure 2) I stood there looking at the painting long and hard to somehow feel its authenticity, it's aura, this painting of Lisa del Giocondo by Leonardo da Vinci was the entire basis of her fame.The Mona Lisa has been one of the most reproduced images as it has been used in advertising, consumer products and art history. One of the foremost examples is Duchamp's rendering of a moustache and goatee on a cheap postcard size reproduction of the Mona Lisa which saw the beginning of the 'readymade reproduction'.( Figure3) There are many other artists who made Mona Lisa's incarnation. Warhol was one of them. These reproductions made the meanings of art ambiguous.
 
Pop artist Andy Warhol recognised the fact that the Mona Lisa was as famous as the celebrity Marilyn Monroe and as such fame was a commodity and that endless replications of the celebrity's face made it so. Warhol adapted a technique from commercial printing, in which a photographic image could be transferred to a canvas by pushing paint through a silkscreen. Warhol made numerous copies in various colours and sizes, these copies can be deemed as appropriation of art.
 'All my images are the same, but very different at the same time... Isn't life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?'(Bockris,V. 1989: 326)
Nobody can mistake Warhol's Mona Lisa as the Renaissance original, thus proving that art appropriation can be just as legitimate. Warhol’s prints were numbered with the lowest numbers being the most valuable as if retaining the idea of the ‘aura of the original’ as described by Walter Benjamin.

 With industrialisation and modern technological means of reproduction the relationship between art and the masses changed. Knowledge concerning the art of the past can now reach a larger proportion of the world’s population. However this mechanisation not only brings about autonomy of the art but also undermines or rather dispels the aura of fine art as quoted by Walter Benjamin
 'Reproductive technology, we might say in general terms, removes the thing reproduced from the realm of tradition. In making[...]it actualizes what is reproduced'. ( Benjamin,W.2008:7)
Benjamin identifies the effect of mechanisation as progressive. The merger of creative and cultural industries would open the arts to a wider audience.
Benjamin's ideas have been reiterated in the past by writers as Malraux whose theory of museum-without-walls can be summarised as an imaginary museum of images that have been reproduced and are made universally available to any individual at all times.(Walker,John A.1983:70) These reproductions give an impression of homogeneity of artworks which are originally more disparate than they appear in reproduction. Whilst I acknowledge these theories are from the past but the essence of this idea still holds true.

Contrary to this Adorno has argued....

As I reflect on both sides of the argument

Poster : A Critical analysis of a cultural text

First Draft Poster of Critical analysis of my Cultural text

A Critical Analysis of Warhol's reproduction of the Mona Lisa

Here is my second draft of the essay. Couldn't control the positioning and info attached with the images... but have completed the bibliography. Your comments are much appreciated. Thank you for reading!

During my recent visit to Paris I visited the Louvre and amongst everything else I went to see the Mona Lisa. Everything that I had heard and read about this painting had encouraged me to see it in person. As I entered this large room with double height ceiling and very large paintings on the walls, I noticed a crowd of people gathered in front of the wall at the far end. My curiosity drew me magnetically to this crowd. There behind a glass wall was the famous painting of the Mona Lisa. The painting which is not really very large was displayed on this wall with a barrier in front so you could not get up close. There were lots of cameras clicking and it was impossible to get a quiet and close-up view. I got pulled and pushed in this crowd and can't deny I too made a mechanical record of this artwork of the past (Figure 1)  I stood there looking at the painting long and hard to somehow feel its authenticity, it's aura, this painting  of Lisa del Giocondo by Leonardo da Vinci was the entire basis of her fame.
As I walked towards the exit, I noticed the museum shop selling many reproductions of this painting in the form of postcards, fridge magnets and T-shirts. The words of Thomas à Kempis crossed my mind, ‘getting closer to things in both spatial and human terms is every bit as passionate a concern of the masses as their tendency to surmount the uniqueness of each circumstance by seeing it in reproduction’. (Benjamin,W.2008: 9)

 My cultural text is Warhol's Mona Lisa.I will offer a detailed  critical analysis using Walter Benjamin ' Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction'.There is no denying that a reproduction is not the same as the original artwork. In the past reproduction did exist in the form of pre-mechanical methods of copying. When Duchamp made a moustache and goatee on a cheap postcard size reproduction of Mona Lisa it was the beginning of the ‘readymade’ reproduction. (Figure 2) .There are many other artists who made Mona Lisa’s incarnations like Dali, Warhol and Banksy (Figure 3, 4 and 5) to name a few. These reproductions made the meanings of art ambiguous.

Pop artist Andy Warhol recognized the fact that the Mona Lisa was as famous as the celebrity Marilyn Monroe and as such fame was a commodity and that endless replications of the celebrity's face made it so.Warhol adapted a technique from commercial printing, in which a photographic image could be transferred to canvas by pushing paint through a mechanically-produced silkscreen template. Warhol made endless copies in various colours and sizes, these copies can be deemed as appropriation of art. Nobody can mistake Warhol's Mona Lisa as the  Renaissance original ,thus proving that art appropriation can be just as legitimate .

This debate about mechanical reproductions in art started with Benjamin's theory on Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction.Benjamin identified the effect of mechanisation as progressive. The merger of creative and cultural industries would open the arts to a wider audience .With industrialisation and modern technological means of reproduction the relationship between art and the masses has changed. Knowledge concerning the art of the past can now reach a larger proportion of the world’s population. However this mechanisation not only brings about autonomy of the art but also undermines or rather dispels the aura of fine art. ‘Reproductive technology, we might say in general terms, removes the thing reproduced from the realm of tradition. In making[.......]it actualizes what is reproduced’. (Benjamin,W,2008:7)In the Journal of Philosophy of Education ,The Re-reading of Benjamin’s theory of mechanical reproduction, Nick Peim has explained that aura seems to signify something of the symbolic halo generated by objects of special significance that is both powerful and indefinite. He has argued that aura is in fact the necessary property of symbolic representation.
 .
Benjamin’s ideas have been reiterated in the past by writers as Malraux whose theory of museum-without-walls can be summarised as an imaginary museum of images that have been reproduced and are made universally available to any individual at all times.(Walker, John A. (1983)Art in the age of mass media. Page 70) These reproductions give an impression of homogeneity of artworks which are originally more disparate than they appear in reproduction.
Contrary to this was Adorno who vehemently argued that there are two closely related social developments: the progressive commoditisation of culture, and the aestheticisation of the commodity-form itself.   The commoditisation refers to the   nature of the art market due to its inherently speculative and manipulative character. The sheer progress and the volume of mechanical reproduction has fuelled the commoditisation even more reducing the use-value to exchange-value. , Secondly, there is the more general aestheticisation of the commodity form in the culture and advertising industries. Adorno expresses his displeasure quite strongly at the neutralization of the critical capacity of particular forms and techniques through their instrumental use, leading to increased marginalisation of authentic art. Thus Adorno argues: ‘To paint a la cubist in the year 1970 is like making advertising posters. And the originals are not immune, either, to this kind of sell out’.(Benjamin, A, 1992: 38-39)
As I reflect on both sides of the argument, I asked myself a question – ‘How does it impact me as an Art Student’? This was an interesting question, because at this point in time, as an Art student I would be naturally biased towards the benefits of mechanical reproduction and other forms of art accessibility. This is simply because it lets me view, feel, know about the art-work and go into the mind of the artist without necessarily travelling miles to the place where it originated. I cannot help but think about the core of Benjamin’s argument: the traditional work of art had a presence, an aura, which was the result of its uniqueness – ‘its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be’. A widely held belief is that the effect of mechanical reproduction was to eliminate the work’s aura and to emancipate it from its dependence upon ritual. Whilst I agree this could be a consequence of the advent of technology leading to mechanisation of the arts, it has had a positive impact as well. The impact that I refer to is the fact that technological innovations of this kind had a progressive potential, in that they democratised the means of artistic production. The mechanical method of silk screen that Warhol discovered has been universally adopted by many artists.
Also, the key question I ask is: has the religious aura really been dissipated? The cult-value surrounding it may have been replaced by exhibition-value, but the function of the museum is to preserve the aura of the work of art and to externalise it. While reviewing and studying art, I have always felt that the aura still remains a function of the originals. The evidence of this is the genre known as art photography – where some photographic prints are being bought and sold at auction rooms for high prices in just the same way as handmade articles.
Interestingly, when one looks at the United Kingdom, the ministry responsible for Art – the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has one of its key objectives as ‘[...] working to support the arts community to give access to all, improve wellbeing in the UK and boost the UK’s economy.’( Department of Culture , Media and Sport (2014). Arts and Culture) They have presented an economic and social argument here at the same time! This loft aim cannot be possibly achieved by displaying reproductions, using images in mass media and also using income from selling memorabilia to develop these museums further. So this is a virtuous spiral that creates a future generation of artists through access to museums and art galleries funded by income from different sources and profits then used to improve the facilities! As you go around this cycle, it grows into a spiral for overall benefit of the common good.

figure 1. Da Vinci, L.Mona Lisa,Author's own.(2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Figure 2  Duchamp, M.(1919)‘LHOOQ’ (pencil on readymade postcard). http://www.marcelduchamp.net/L.H.O.O.Q.php  [Assessed on 15 Feb 2014]

 Figure 3. Dali. S. (1954 )Self Portrait as Mona Lisa. Available from http://www.examiner.com/article/salvador-dali-poses-the-question-why-they-attack-the-mona-lisa [Accessed on 18 Feb 2014]

http://projects.ecfs.org/fieldston272/SlideIndexes/renaissance02.html

Figure 4. Warhol,A.( 1963)Thirty Are Better Than One, Silkscreen print. Available from http://www.previewberlin.com/Data/presse2011/PB2011_CATALOGTEXT_MPIESBERGEN.pdf [accessed on 18 Feb 2014]

Figure 5

Banksy.( 2000) Mona Lisa, spray paint stencil on board, 48in by 48in. Available from http://arrestedmotion.com/2011/09/banksy-top-25-most-expensive-works-ever/ [Accessed on 18 Feb 2014]

 

 

Bibliography

Images

Figure 1- Author’s own [2014]
Figure 2-Duchamp,M. (1919) LHOOQ’ ,pencil on readymade postcard. http://www.marcelduchamp.net/L.H.O.O.Q.php [Accessed 15th Feb 2014]
Figure 3- Dali,S.(1954) Self Portrait as Mona Lisa. Available from http://www.examiner.com/article/salvador-dali-poses-the-question-why-they-attack-the-mona-lisa [Assessed on 18 Feb 2014]
Figure 4- Warhol,A. (1963)Thirty Are Better Than One. Serigraph prints. Available from http://projects.ecfs.org/fieldston272/SlideIndexes/renaissance02.html, http://www.previewberlin.com/Data/presse2011/PB2011_CATALOGTEXT_MPIESBERGEN.pdf
[Assessed on 18 Feb 2014]
 Figure 5- Banksy ( 2000) Mona Lisa, spray paint stencil on board, 48in by 48in. Available from http://arrestedmotion.com/2011/09/banksy-top-25-most-expensive-works-ever/ [Accessed on 18 Feb 2014]

 

Website

Department of Culture, media and Sport and The Tate (2014) Arts and Culture. Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/topics/arts-and-culture [Accessed on 15 Feb 2014]
Musee du Louvre ( 2005)A Closer Look At The Mona Lisa. Available from: http://musee.louvre.fr/oal/joconde/indexEN.html [Accessed 14 Feb 2014]

Television programme viewed on the Internet

John Berger/ Ways of Seeing ( 1972) Series 1, Episode 1-4 .BBC, 1972. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pDE4VX_9Kk [ Accessed 14 Feb 2014]

Journal Articles

  Peim, N.(2007)Walter Benjamin in the Age of Digital Reproduction:Aura in Education:A Rereading of 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction'.Journal of Philosophy of Education[online].

Books

Benjamin.A, (1992 ) Problems of Modernity: Adorno and Benjamin .Cornwall: T.J.Press Ltd.
Benjamin,W (2008) The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Translated by J.A. Underwood. London: Penguin Books.
Berger, J.( 1972) Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books
Vygotsky,Lev S.(1971) The Psychology Of Art . Translated by Scripta Technica,Inc.U.S.A:The M.I.T. Press
Walker, John A. (1983) Art in the Age of Mass Media .London: Pluto Press Limited

Week 8: Class, Cultural Capital, Taste and Power dt 21st Jan 2014

Class

Karl Marx defines class as: determined entirely by one's relationship to the 'means of production' i.e. Land, machinery, material access. the classes in a Capitalist society:
Proletarians: those who work but do not own the means of production, e.g. factory workers making but not owning the machinery used for making.
Bourgeoisie: those who live off the surplus generated by the Proletarians. The means of production belongs to them.
Aristocracy: those who have land as means of production.
www.marxists.org/glossary/index.htm
 Class was determined by occupation, wealth and education.

A major survey conducted by BBC suggests people in UK now fit into seven social classes.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22007058
The new research suggests that class has three different indicators:
Economic, Social and Cultural.

1. Elite: most privileged group with highest level of all three capitals( more cultural, social and economic engagement, wealth and education)
2. Established Middle class: the largest group of all, second wealthiest and second highest for cultural capital and high on social engagement.
3. Technical Middle Class: low on social engagement and lack of interest in culture.
4. New Affluent Workers: young class group which is socially and culturally active with middling level of finance..
5. Traditional Working Class: low on all forms of capital but not completely deprived. Members of this group have the oldest average age of 66 and reasonably high house value.
6. Emergent service workers: new , young urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital.eg areas like Stokes Croft, Montpelier-Bristol.
7. Precariat or Precarious Proletariat: the poorest, most deprived class who score low on social, cultural and economic capital.

Class distinction is more fluid in contemporary society. This new model suggests we have some control over them.

Taste

Taste is understood as an indicator of class( the kind of things you choose to engage in or avoid).
According to Catherine McDermott taste: 'involves the critical judgement of human objects and culture and it suggests a well-trained appreciation of what is aesthetically pleasing.' ( McDermott, 1994,p195)
In other words taste is based on knowledge, connoisseurship and critical appreciation.
In cultural context it can be determined by makers, critics, media, everyone.
Our tastes are learnt and hence taught.
They are not natural or neutral.
Their learning starts the moment we are born.
They reflect our value system. ( family, culture, religion)
Our tastes in clothes, food, cars, art, design, position us within our culture's hierarchies.
They demonstrate our 'Cultural capital'.

 Cultural Capital

Pierre Bourdieu 91979) Distinction: Asocial Critique of the Judgement of Taste.

• interested in construction and performance of class
• interested in roles that education, consumption and cultural capital play in its formation.

Cultural capital is a form of value associated with culturally authorised tastes, consumption patterns, attributes, skills and awards.
Webb.J.Schirato,T.(2002)
Within the field of education , an academic degree constitutes cultural capital.

For Terminology refer to http://faculty.smcm.edu/Inscheer/mce.html

Interesting fact-In the Renaissance period the hierarchy in art was :
Highest- art showing religious and historical themes
Middle- portraiture, paintings of women.
Lowest- Still life.

Essay question

I've decided to do a critical analysis of the painting 'the Mona Lisa' by Leonardo da Vinci. I will be particularly looking at mechanical reproduction of art.
 I researched online to find out more on anything relevant to my subject.I came across this article written by the curator of Louvre on the Mona Lisa.
The Faces of the  Mona Lisa
 by Vincent Pomarède
 Curator in the Paintings Department of the  Louvre Museum
The  Mona Lisa is beyond doubt the best known painting in the world, today completely identified with the Louvre Museum and even with the general notion of art.
Technique:Painted on a thin backing of poplar wood, which is now extremely fragile (this is why it is today preserved behind a glass case) the  Mona Lisa is an exemplary creation, thanks to the subtle effects of light on flesh and the panache of the landscape in the painting's background. The modeling of the face is astonishingly realistic. Leonardo executed the painting with patience and virtuosity: after preparing the wooden panel with several layers of coating, he first of all drew his motif directly onto the picture, before painting it in oil, adding very weak turpentine, which enabled him to paint on innumerable layers of transparent color, known as glaze, and to endlessly remodel the face. The glaze, skillfully worked, heightens the effects of light and shade on the face, constituting what Leonardo himself called “sfumato”.