ARTH 110 ART APPRECIATION- Module 3 Discussion - Who cares about art?Part 1

How is printmaking more applicable to our sociopolitical climate than painting or sculpture? Or is it? What art form more accessible to the public? Is it painting or sculpture or drawing or is something else more accessible? What do you think makes more of an impact on an audience? Please explain your opinion.

Here are some jumping off points for your research. These examples are fine, but please feel free to expand your search and include anyone you feel aids your point. I look forward to your insights.

Some Themes of Francis Bacon (Links to an external site.)

A look at Ai Wei Wei (Links to an external site.)

Shepard Fairey discusses his work. (Links to an external site.)

I think that when print making was invented, it allowed a diverse group of people to be exposed to more artworks. Since there is only one original copy, print making allowed art to be shared over a bigger group of people. I believe that this is why the original copies of artwork are deemed to be more valuable than the copies. This makes the copies of any work less valuable, associated with lower class people. The value of the original dated back to when print making was first invented, still holding true today. Print making copies are an art form that I think are more generally associated with the lower class.

The commercial aspect of printmaking is an important cultural consideration. How commercialized a painting is also adds to the value of a painting. For example, some things are made overseas (i.e. China) when others are made in the United States. Generally, things made in the United States hold a greater value than things made in China. The exception follows when talking about products that have an original country, such as wine. Wine from Italy is going to be more expensive than wine made in Indiana.

This example shows that where a product is commercialized effects the value of a product’s cultural significance.

The commercial and social implications of printmaking relate to contemporary American culture greatly. Commercialization has dominated American society. Commercialization of print making allow consumers to have paintings and artwork that normally would not be available to everyone. Print making allows there to be mass production of artworks. Socially, an artwork that is not commercialized is worth more because there is only one original of that artwork. Print making has made a social difference, dividing those who can buy the originals and those who can be the copies. Print making is an art form that has greatly changed art history and consumer art.