GEORGE DICKIE

1. GEORGE DICKIE An Institutional Analysis of Arts 1974

2. Phase I: Defining Art Prominent Theories Imitation Theory: based on the idea that the content of artis representational Expressionist Theories: art is reduced to a form of creation in which the artists expresses his inner life (feeling emotions).

3. Phase II: Open Concept Phase II is best represented by Weitz’s view that art cannot be defined; instead art is an open concept.

4. Phase III Dickie argues that he hopes to present a new direction for defining art, one that will constitute phase III

5. Weitz Generalization Argument: There is a difference between the generic concept, “work of art” and the specific conception, novel, painting, sculpture, music, etc.. While we might be able to speak about specific closed concepts of art, we should not confuse this with a closed generic conception of art.

6. Weitz Classification Argument: There are two sometimes conflated criteria of art: the evaluative and the classificatory criteria. Art theorists have derived the evaluative criteria and put them forth asclassificatorycriteria.

7. Dickie Dickie argues that Weitz’s claim that the “driftwood is art” does not make sense if “art” is interpreted in the classificatory sense. Dickie argues that Weitz confuses the distinction he himself makes, that is, he uses the word “art” in the phrase “The drift wood is art” not in the classificatory sense but rather in the evaluative sense. Therefore the property of being an artifact is a necessary characteristic of a work of art is incorrect.

8. Dickie’s argument enhanced Dickie uses Sclafani to argue that there is yet another conception of art that is different than the evaluative and classificatory sense. Slafani argues that “the driftwood is art” falls into this category.

9. Derivative Sense Sclafani argues that in addition to the primary classificatory sense of the use of “a work of art” there is a derivative sense of a “work of art”. The derivative sense of “a work of art” means that a work resembles the characteristics of a paradigmatic work of art.

10. Derivative sense “The driftwood is a work of art” means that it is has characteristics or properties that resemble works of art ( for instance, Brancusi’s Bird in Space)

11. Brancusi’s Bird in Space

12. Work of art (1) Classificatory (2) Derivative (3) Evaluative

13. Necessary Condition A necessary condition of all works of art is that they are artifacts. The difficult problem will be to discern the sufficient condition.

14. Danto’s “Artworld” “To see something as art requires something the eye cannot descry – an atmosphere of artistic theory, a knowledge of history of art: an artworld.” Seeing art as art therefore cannot be done by simply identifying some visibly discernible property. Seeing art as art requires understanding and is a cognitive act and not simply a perceptible act.

15. Institutional Nature of Art Art functions within a framework, a culture, history and tradition. This framework entails a certain practice and continuity, and art develops within and among such complicated relations. Art must be identified from within the framework.

16. Dickie “I suppose that we have complete knowledge of keratin recently developed subsystems or genres such as Dada and happenings. Even if our knowledge is not as complete as we wish it were, however, we do have substantial information about the systems of the artworld as they currently exist and as they have existed for some time. One central feature all the systems have in common is that each is a framework for the presenting of particular works od art. Given the great variety of the systems of the artworld it is not surprising that works of art have no exhibited properties in common.”

17. Art and “ready-mades” The act of conferring something the status of art was invisible within the traditional artworld. However, this unexhibited (not visible within the act) becomes apparent with unconventional art, such as the dada movement of the early 20th century.

18. Duchamp (Dadaism)

19. What is art? An art work is an artifact that has been conferred the status of art (candidate for appreciation) by his or her creator within an artistic system or subsystem. This view of art does not foreclose on creativity.

20. Conferring (1) the conferring individual acts on behalf of an institution. (2) Conferring of status (3) Being a candidate (4) Appreciation

21. Conferring Legal statuses’ are conferred. Knighthood is conferred. Degrees are conferred. The status of ‘being married’ is conferred. All of these require a social institution which allows us to make sense of the conferred status.

22. Can conferring go wrong? Authority Method Intentionality

23. Conferring “Art is a concept which necessarily involves intentionality.” To confer something the status of art, you must want to confer to it the status of art. This might be done by someone other than the creator.

24. Natural Object Therefore, if I can simply confer something the status of art by wanting to do so, then natural objects can be considered art and they can become artifacts, simply by my wanting them to be art (if I do so within a artistically sanctioned institutional structure). Does Dickie contradict himself here. He originally held that being an artifact is a necessary condition of being art. Now he claims that natural objects can be art, and thus can become artifact without doing anything to them, simply by conferring then the status of art, which comes down to simply seeing them as art.

25. Cases to consider Animal paintings Fake – copies (making a duplicate) Fake – originals (making an original and attributing it to another artists) Originals - faked (making an original and having someone other than the artists attribute it to another artists)

26. Conclusion Institutional Theory of art says nothing about what art can do. Imitation and expressionist theories should be viewed as theories about aspects of art (or things that art can do) rather than as holistic classificatory theories of art.