Wednesday, 30 April 2014

CoP - Essay: Should fine art be given more value than other types of communication?

Should fine art be given more value than other types of communication?
Throughout the ages people have used fine art to communicate both physical events and emotions. In recent years the new forms of communication made available through technological advances have become more popular. This essay focuses on fine art and photography, a more recent visual form of communication, by comparing and contrasting Pablo Picasso’s famous Guernica (1937) (see figure 1) with the well known photograph ‘Napalm girl’ captured by Nick Ut in 1972 (see figure 2). The context of both pieces is focusing on the destruction and impact of war and how the war was portrayed to the outside world.
Picasso’s piece was commissioned by Spanish Republicans after Hitler and the uprising fascist party of Spain tested out weapons on town of Guernica. It is painted in black and white which emphisises the bleakness of war. Initially the painting appears to be jumbled but on closer inspection each section depicts the brutality and true horror of the war through the use of semiotics.
‘Napalm girl’ captured the terror of the Vietnam war. It was the most important war photo to bring home to ordinary people the truths and horror of what war was actually like. The naked girl suffering from severe burns would have died except for the intervention of the photographer and the subsequent fame of the photograph.
The value placed on something depends not only on how value is defined but also can vary according to the time period. In the past fine art had higher value because it was used extensively to preserve ‘moments of time’ for example portraits.  Until the beginning of the 20th Century it was also the general publics main source of information regarding wars fought on foreign soil. Artists would often add or miss out details, which would alter how they wanted the piece to look. For example, they could choose to paint thousands of the opposing side defeated. This would then distort how people perceived the war.  Photography in its infancy suffered from many of the same difficulties; the photos were staged and the participants had to remain still for extended periods (up to 10 minutes). A great example of this is photos from the Crimean war where there are pictures of soldiers having a drink and reading the newspaper (see figure 3); this completely romanticised the war and takes away the depth of mindless destruction. This can be shown by the reactions of the general public when actual film footage of the war was shown for the first time. Shocked people ran screaming from the cinema as they had not previously encountered the full horrors of war.  As photography became more advanced, cheaper and quicker, it gave a truer version of the events and removed the need for fine art to depict history.  The only time that art is now used to record an event is where cameras are forbidden such as during a trial in British courts. ‘Value, therefore, does not have its description branded on its forehead; it rather transforms every product of labor into a social hieroglyphic’  (Marx K, 1986, p.167) This supports the argument of there being no definitive meaning of value, as it is subject to change depending on the time period, culture and even the individual. By ‘social hieroglyphic’ Marx is referring to the signs that are not immediately understood. For example in Picassos Guernica, the bull figure at the top is supposedly related to a minotaur. This is a symbol to portray mans irrational side, it is also a famous icon of the Spanish culture. This sign is not immediately obvious.  
Photos of the Spanish civil war factually record the damage to both buildings and the population; the viewers immediately understand what is being shown. However, Picasso’s work is harder to appreciate and the time and effort taken by the viewer to understand its meaning increases its value and adds another dimension. ‘Value is determined by the average amount of labour that is socially necessary to produce a given product; it is informed by the countless acts of individual (living) labor performed by individual workers’ (Diederichsen, D, 2008, p.22) This quote is in favour for the argument that fine art should be given more value because more labour and hard work is put into creating a fine art piece like Guernica compared to a photograph such as the ‘napalm girl’ irrelevant of how moving the photograph is.
The viewers’ imagination plays into the hands of Picasso as the piece may be interpreted in different ways, for example, in the bottom center there is a flower held by an amputated hand: this could represent how life can come from death or how fragile life is. The semiotic meaning of the flower is left to the viewers’ interpretation.
‘Napalm girl’ is also significant because the picture does not clearly show what has caused her immense distress. The photograph is powerful because it captures emotion, and unlike Picasso’s piece it doesn’t need studying to provoke compassion for the girl. Anyone can easily empathise and understand the horror of the situation without being aware of the context. This is not true of Picasso’s piece where it is vital to understand the context on which the painting is based for there to be any value.
However the interpretations of Guernica’s semiotic connotations are mixed which causes there to be blurred lines in what the true meaning Picasso is trying to communicate. Art historian Patricia Failing said, "The bull and the horse are important characters in Spanish culture. Picasso himself certainly used these characters to play many different roles over time. This has made the task of interpreting the specific meaning of the bull and the horse very tough. Their relationship is a kind of ballet that was conceived in a variety of ways throughout Picasso's career."(pablopicasso.org/guernica, 2009) By using two renowned symbols of the culture he would have been able to relate certain ideas to them. Though this becomes a problem when more than one meaning can be denoted from them, especially as Patricia Failing states, they have been used for different roles. If the meaning is mixed, unclear and even misunderstood then the value it is given is perhaps not valid.
Does an unclear or surreal painting really loose value? The point of art isn’t to create an accurate duplication of an event; if you want an identical image then you take a photograph. Art is more of an expression that conveys a truth about the reality without exposing the whole true reality. This can be seen in Picasso’s work where he has shown the true horror of war without directly linking it to the war itself. His expression of the horror can be distinguished from the representation of the war; because of this the context doesn’t necessarily need to be known as we can value the artwork he has created without valuing the war he is representing.
It can be seen that fine art will be subjective and distorted to the artist’s bias and this is certainly true of Picasso’s art as he was anti-fascism so he had an obvious bias. However, what is not often realised is that photography can also have a bias: the photographer chooses the focus of the piece. “clearly archives are not neutral; they embody the power inherent in accumulation, collection and hoarding as well as that power inherent in the command of the lexicon and rules of language. Within the bourgeois culture, the photographic project itself has from the very beginning been identified not only with the dream of universal language, but also the establishment of global archives and repositories according to models offered by libraries, encyclopedias….” (Campany D, 2003, p.217) This quote really emphasizes the point that photography may not be neutral but have a bias. However it is argued that this perhaps doesn’t matter as photography can been seen as a way of documentation and even a universal language that isn’t subjected to one culture. The fact that photography can be bias can be used to the advantage of the photographer to portray the strongest message and create the largest response. Surely this is a talent in itself and carefully selecting powerful images could be classed as an art with great value. Photographs taken a few seconds later at Trang Bang do not emphasize the girl’s agony in the same way as she merges more into the general chaotic background. An objective piece may be given more value as a form of information but if value is judged by the impact it has on the audience then bias photography has more value as Nick Ut captured the fear on the girl’s face. Similarly the girl’s fear would not have as much impact if it were a painting because it would have lost that immediate shock factor. It could not be proved to be an actual representation of an event.
‘It didn’t belong to art; it belonged to everyone and no one, and what little baggage it had picked up in the hope of becoming a distinctive medium was intriguing but easy to ignore. It was photography’s lack of specialism that made it so special. And it still does. In recent art no other medium has been taken up in such a variety of ways. In what might now have become a post-medium condition for art, photography is so often the medium of choice.’  (Campany D, 2003, p.17) ­­­ People can relate more to photography rather than art because although a photograph from a certain angle can change ones view, it is actually made up of matter that people can relate to. Photography in this sense belongs to everyone and as the quote states ‘is the medium of choice’ because individuals can relate to it and find emotion immediately unlike fine art pieces such as Guernica. Perhaps then fine art shouldn’t be given as much value as other forms of communication as a way of informing or creating impact on the audience.
On the other hand photography does not always have the most impact nor is it always the best tool for propaganda. Art can show aspects that other methods of communication cannot, such as the underlying connotations that can’t be seen physically. Who creates the piece is another reason why art can have such a higher impact than a photograph. Guernica would not be as widely remembered if it were not for the art of the famous and influential artist, Picasso. It should perhaps be given more value because he has managed to creatively show the situation and raise fundamental questions without that being his main intention. When he created the work his purpose was to express his outrage; a brave action in a time where art was highly controlled.
More value is placed on rare commodities and in this sense art is more valuable because it is a skill little of us have. Few of us can create good art, let alone create a piece that has a lasting impact. This is a rare talent so surely the artwork that arises from it should hold the most value. “The ‘straight’ photograph – clear, frontal, centred – is often understood as the least creative and thus the most artless kind of image. It doesn’t draw attention to itself and often substitutes for what it depicts” (Campany D, 2003, p.66) This really does support the argument that rare talents and work that takes time should be given the most value. However, the same could be said of Napalm Girl in that it is difficult to capture a fleeting moment: was it luck or skill that produced this award winning shot?  If it is luck, should it be given as much value as a picture that has required considerable skill? Arguably, not!
However skill may not even come into question. Just because something takes longer to do or requires more ability like the Guernica painting, if fewer people appreciate it then does it really have any value at all? All the time and money in the world could go into creating a piece but if no one cares for it then there is no real value in that piece. It is questionable as to whether this devalues art as it is not universally appreciated or practiced or whether it in fact increases its value as it has beco­­me more rare.
On the contrary if a photograph taken within seconds can spread to the four corners of the earth show a powerful message and be responsible for an uprising action then unquestionably this must have a significantly higher worth as it has created a immense response. Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908 – 2004) is known as the leading pioneer in photojournalism. He would have argued that photography is a type of art and should be given more value as it is critical to seize that moment. “Memory is very important, the memory of each photo taken, flowing at the same speed as the event. During the work, you have to be sure that you haven’t left any holes, that you’ve captured everything, because afterwards it will be too late.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson (JOHNPAULCAPONIGRO.COM, 2013) Unlike fine art where things can be added and assessed constantly whilst creating the piece of artwork, photography has to be in that split second. If you don’t get the shot that is needed then it is too late. This can be seen in Nick Ut’s ‘Napalm girl’ where the photo captured was such a brief second in time. The photos before do not hold the same value as a form of communicating the war as they do not provoke sympathy. “Of all the means of expression, photography is the only one that fixes a precise moment in time.” - Henri Cartier-Bresson (JOHNPAULCAPONIGRO.COM, 2013) There is so much importance on showing that moment in time, this is a trait fine art will never have because it cannot be created in such a quick time. Even if it were to represent and fix a set moment of time it would have had to be created from a photograph to be accurate, relying on memory would be imprecise. Surely then photography holds the most value as it the most reliable way to communicate a moment in time.
­It has become evident that comparing the two different medias of photography and fine art is not without difficulty. They both convey two very different means of emotional context. “Over the last three decades or so art has become increasingly photographic. Why phrase it this way around? Why not say photography has become art? Because that would suggest a kind of unity in the medium when in fact photography has ended up in art in diverse ways, for diverse reasons. This wasn’t the result of a recognition of a singular medium with singular credentials.” (Campany D, 2003, p.16)

 On the one hand photography causes an immediate, universal reaction to what is being portrayed. Where as fine art, as seen through Picasso’s painting, can create an equally large and emotional reaction. Even though everyone may not appreciate fine art, its value is not lost as it creates a subjective and personable experience for other artists or those who invest an interest. It’s also possible to see that today, the event of Guernica and Picasso’s painting of it are seen as one of the most significant cultural parts of the Spanish civil war. Not even the photos showing an accurate portrayal are as memorable as the painting. This shows the true value that fine art can have, as those at Guernica will forever be remembered in a dignified painting rather than in brutal imagery. For this reason fine art should be given more value as it is a traditional form of expression and the time and effort that has been invested in to creating a piece. However it is hard to value fine art more when photography is universally accepted and more widely used. One point that is worth noting when it comes to the comparison of fine art and photography is the fact they have different purposes. Fine art is subjective, the audience doesn’t matter, in the sense that the artist is not trying display a message to the audience but rather express themselves. However, photography if it doesn’t get across a message to the audience it is rendered useless. Photography being easier to interpret, appeals to a mass audience. Arguably if more people can appreciate something and relate to it then it must hold more value as a form of communication. The debate comes down to whether value is in what is rare or rather what is more applicable. It is hard to argue whether photography or fine art should be given the most value because they both have different purposes. If both purposes are different then the value given to them should reflect how well they fulfill their purpose. Therefore fine art should be valued more as an expression of the artists view point rather than a form of direct communication.

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References:

1. [Marx, K (1986 ). Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Middlesex: Penguin Books. 167]

2. [Diederichsen, D (2008). On (Surplus) Value in Art. Germany: Sternburg Press. 22.]

3. [Campany, D (2003). Art and Photography. London: Phaidon Inc Ltd. 217.]

4. [Campany D, (2003). Art and Photography. London: Phaidon Inc Ltd. 17.]

5. [Campany, D­ (2003). Art and Photography. London: Phaidon Inc Ltd. 66.]

6. JOHNPAULCAPONIGRO.COM. (2013) illuminating creativity.

[Online] Available from: http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/blog/12018/29-quotes-by-photographer-henri-cartier-bresson/

[Accessed: 10th January 2014]

7. [Campany, D (2003). Art and Photography. London: Phaidon Inc Ltd. 16.]

8. pablopicasso.org (2009) Guernica, 1937 by Pablo Picasso

[Online] Available from: http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp

[Accessed 11th January 2014]



Bibliography:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21481381

2.http://cw.routledge.com/textbooks/alevelphilosophy/data/AS/ValueofArt/ExpressionResponse.pdf

3.http://www.pablopicasso.org/quotes.jsp

4.http://www.lecouperet.net/hcb/en/index.html

5. Campany, D­ (2003). Art and Photography. London: Phaidon Inc Ltd.

6. Diederichsen, D (2008). On (Surplus) Value in Art. Germany: Sternburg Press

7. Kelsey R, Stimson B (2008). The Meaning of Photography. Massachusetts: Clark Art Institute.

8. Turner, G (2002). British Culture Studies. 3rd ed. London: Routeledge

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNC92dP_RRc The Power of Art - Picasso (complete episode) [Accessed 8th January 2014]



10. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa9auMart0E [Accessed 8th January 2014]

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