This is the name of the text we are assigned to read in our class. The text is written by Suzi Gablik in the mid-eighties so her opinions are based during that time. It's helpful to keep that information in mind while reading about what she has to say. Two weeks ago our class started to read this text and we had a brief discussion about what Gablik's introduction stated. We had some arguments as to what Gablik meant when she stated whether artists in modern times made Art for Art's sake or for capitalistic reasons. Some of my classmates believed artists chose more to make art for their commissioners or to get paid, while other classmates believed that artists still made art that spoke to them and not what they were expected to make to satisfy others' tastes. I unfortunately believe that artists would love to make art for its sake but life gets in the way; everyone needs to make a living and in order for an artist to make a proper living he/she needs to make art that will get them paid.
Yes, it was interesting to hear the different views that students expressed in response to Suzi Gablik's book. As the book goes on, Gablik advocates that artists question the Modernist notion of art as "pure" and separate from life (i.e., the idea of "art for art's sake" ), and Gablik encourages artists to use their creative talents to engage the community. Gablik argues that artists and the arts can do a lot to change society for the better. I wonder what you think of this idea. You might even keep this idea in mind as something to think more about over the course of the semester as you have a chance to observe personally the effect the arts have on the young patients over at Children's Hospital whom you have the chance to meet.
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