| Term | Definition |
|---|
| aesthetics | a branch of philosophy concerned with judgements of taste and considers the meaning and value of art in light of standards such as beauty and truth. |
| alienation | the sense of distance from others in one's social world, a loss of self and a sense of helplessness that is an effect of modern life |
| abstract/abstraction | a non-representational style that focuses on the relationship of compositional elements and principles rather than any depiction of reality |
| appropriation | the act of borrowing, stealing or taking over others' works, images, ideas to use for one's own ends. |
| aura | a term used to describe the special quality that seems to emanate from unique works of art |
| authenticity | the quality of being unique or genuine |
| avant-garde | movements at the forefront of artistic experimentation, leading the way to major changes |
| binary oppositions | oppositions such as nature/culture, male/female, mind/body, etc |
| brand | the 'identity', the name and 'meaning' of a company's commodity |
| bricolage | the practice of working with whatever materials are at hand |
| broadcast media | media transmitted from one central point to many receiving points |
| Classical art | art that adheres to the styles and aesthetics of tradition, especially Greek and Roman art. Balance, symmetry and proportion are emphasized. |
| commodity/commodification | the process by which material items are turned into marketable goods. |
| commodity self | a term that refers to how we construct our identities, at least in part, through the consumer products that inhabit our lives |
| conceptual art | a style of art that emerged in the 1960's that focused on the idea of the artwork over the material object itself. The attempt was to get away from the art market and its commodities; conceptual art could not be BOUGHT. |
| connotative meaning | all the social, culture and historical meanings that are added to a work of art's denotative meaning. |
| counter-bricolage | when marketers and advertisers 'borrow' and sell as commodities aspects of the bricolage style (i.e. street art used in advertising) |
| cubism | a style of art that represented the dynamism and complexity of human vision by representing objects simultaneously from different perspectives |
| dada | an intellectual movement that was anti-art. (Duchamp was the movements most important figure. His 'ready-mades' (found objects) like the urinal he installed in a museum challenged art world ideas and pretentions |
| denotative meaning | the literal, face-value meaning of a sign. (the denotative meaning of a rose is a flower). |
| encoding | the production of meaning in cultural products. |
| episteme | the ideas and ways of organizing knowledge that are common to a particular era. |
| genre | the classification of cultural products according to familiar formulas. (i.e. in film, horror films, westerns, romantic comedies, etc). |
| globalization | the 'shrinking' of the world, the lessening of individual cultural identities, as a result of international exchange of commodities and ideas. |
| habitus | the unconscious tendancies that are part of an individuals sense of taste and preferences for cultural consumption. |
| high/low culture | art for elite, privileged, educated classes, versus cultural products that are mass-produced, available to anybody |
| icon | originally an image that had sacred value. now an icon is an image (or person) that acquires symbolic significance and is perceived to represent universal concepts, emotions and meanings. |
| ideology | the shared set of values and beliefs that exist within a given society |
| imperialism | derived from the word 'empire': how nations extend their boundaries into new territories, dominating them. (cultural imperialism : ways of life, cultural products and ideologies are exported into other cultures) |
| mass culture/mass society | often has a negative connotation and similar to popular culture. This term suggests that ordinary people are subjected to, and buy into, the same message |
| orientalism | a term that suggests the exotic in other countries |
| panopticism | the vision of surveillance, the idea that we might be (and most often are) being 'observed' mechanically or otherwise (as with surveillance cameras) |
| propaganda | the imparting of political messages through mass media |
| psychoanalytic theory | a theory of how the mind works, emphasizing the role of the unconscious and desire in shaping our actions, feelings and motives. (established by Sigmund Freud in early 20th century). |
| replica | a copy of an artwork that was produced by the original artist or under his/her supervision |
| subculture | distinct social groups within wider cultural groups that define themselves in opposition to mainstream culture |
| taste | what one likes or finds beautiful (this is often affected by the cultural values of one's community) |
| voyeurism | the pleasure in watching without being seen. |
| virtual | phenomena that can exist, but not in a tangible or physical way. A simulation of experience. |
| industrialization | the mechanization of all kinds of production. creates the modern city and modern feelings of alienation. |
| marxist theoryu | a political and economic critique which says (in brief) that those who own the means of production control the masses. |
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