Art Influences Culture or Culture Influences Art?

Culture Influences Art 

My friend and I had a long discussion about art and culture. We concluded that culture definietly influences art:  look at  pop art. Pop art is really only meaningful within the context of a commercialist culture. It reacts to commercialism and the repetitive, flashy marketing messages bombarding us in our culture.Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroes and Campbells soup can wouldn’t mean anything to a tribesman from Indonesia because he doesn’t know the cultural context that gives meaning to this art.

There are works of art that transcend culture, that stand outside of time and culture to speak to us on a basic human level.  The Mona Lisa.  A tribesman from Indonesia would be just as intrigued by her smile as a Renaissance man.  Mozart. Bach. Beethoven. Vivaldi. You can’t help but be fascinated no matter where or when you are from.

My friend and I decided that some works of art that transcend culture speak to us on a human level, not a cultural level. So culture influences some art and some art stands outside its culture.

Art Influences Culture

Is one of the roles of art within a culture to reflect back to us what we look like as a society and to show that maybe who we are could use some change?   

An artist’s main intent, we felt, is not so much to effect societal change, but to express an idea or concept or feeling. That idea, concept or feeling could be generated by the culture or by the state of being human.  These comments are important to a society. They are warnings: Hey, society, look at what you are doing as a collective. Is this truly the way you want to go? 

The effect of art seems not to directly cause major change within a society. That would be your Che’s. Instead, artists can reach people on an emotional level, fire up sentiment which then influences people to act.

First Up Against the Wall When the Revolution Comes
The rebels and the intellectuals and the artists.  Artists see societal change for what it is, they can predict outcomes, and they have “voices” to communicate what they see through the power of symbols, stories, and emotional connections. They are influential in that they help emotionally support societal movements and change.  They provide connections, cohesion, symbols, impetus, and emotional rationale for change.

What Should We Be Paying Attention to Now?

What are our artists saying today? What are the trends?