{"id":132,"date":"2023-12-06T15:22:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T20:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/?p=132"},"modified":"2023-12-06T15:22:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T20:22:20","slug":"high-vs-low-art-from-bedrock-to-the-big-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/uncategorized\/high-vs-low-art-from-bedrock-to-the-big-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"High vs. Low Art: From Bedrock to the Big Screen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What makes a piece of visual media worth viewing? Who and what dictates an artwork\u2019s worth and its indoctrination into museums or magazines? For ages, art historians of all disciplines have been conflicted on the issue of high versus low art. \u201cHigh\u201d art is said to be anything worthy of being viewed in a museum by those with \u201chigh\u201d taste, while \u201clow\u201d art is anything that is easily comprehensible and available to the public. Things like easily accessible cartoons on television or comic strips in newspapers have stood no chance, in art historical terms, against art trailblazers such as Vincent Van Gogh or Jacques-Louis David. While all are considered art, there is much discourse surrounding their comparability and standing. As cartoons gained popularity among American families in the latter half of the twentieth century, the animated characters became household names that were responsible for sparking a cultural shift not only in its viewers, but also in the high-low art debate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ad Reinhardt, “How to look at Modern Artwork in America,” PM<\/em>, 1946.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The diagram above, published in 1946 by Ad Reinhardt in PM <\/em>magazine, was an early classification of high and low art. This commentary on high-level art works to reconfigure the relationship between low-level art and high ranking artists by providing a look at art principals, terms, and creators throughout the years. This “tree of art history” plants its roots in Greek and Primitive art and builds up to post-impressionism. The tree is burdened by weights of “subject matter” and “business as art patron.” Off to the side, there appears two koi fish, eternally intertwined. Similar to the concept of yin-yang, the “business-art” fish represent the contradicting forces that exist as inseparable. Though a symbol of balance, there is a power dynamic here. The “business” fish is a predator with its teeth buried deep in the scales of the art fish. Reinhardt thus claims that all art, no matter its category, is intertwined because they are all plagued by the idea and pressure of business and capitalism. Art historian Jason E. Hill, in a case study on Reinhardt, argues that “it is clear from his own writings and activity from this time that he held cartooning itself, as a practice situated within the mass press, as a vital and necessary mode of modern picture making” (79). Just because “lower-level” art is more readily available than modern art does not mean that the two do not share similar origins or face the same problems. He further states that “the presence of these cartoonists on Reinhardt’s tree, then, articulates PM<\/em>‘s own sure status as one among the most important mid-century American platforms for newspaper cartooning\u2014a form whose modernity, if not always its self-reflexive modernism, can hardly be challenged” (81). This is to say that art forms such as cartooning, advertisements, or photojournalism are just as important to American art history and culture as oil paintings, watercolors, and sculptures.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As American art culture began to move in a more diverse and inclusive direction, a window opened for art to be introduced into the domestic sphere. Cartooning, specifically, produced widely accessible and entertaining pieces of visual media that begin to plant seeds for this “low” art form to reserve a space in the art world. Whether they appeared in television cartoons or newspaper comic strips, a mirage of hand drawn characters became the symbol of American entertainment. One family in particular stood out to the public\u2014the stone-aged, bedrock dwelling Flintstones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November of 1960, LIFE <\/em>Magazine <\/em>sent photojournalist Allan Grant directly into Hanna-Barbera, the studio that produced the television series. First premiering in September of the same year, the cartoon followed the day-to-day happenings of the “modern stone age” family of four.\u00a0Fred, Wilma, Pebbles, and Dino quickly took both children and adults by storm. Grant\u2019s mission was to photograph anything and everything from cast table reads to voice actors at the mic. What he left with was something far larger than just a collection of eight-hundred photographs. He had captured a series of moments that would solidify the characters in the hearts of the American public, therefore showing its cultural relevance in the art world. Interestingly enough, out of the hundreds of in-studio images taken by Grant, only three photos from his collection would appear in the pages of LIFE<\/em>‘s November issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
LIFE<\/em> Magazine, November, 1960.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One out of the three images depicts a day in the recording booth. Shot on black and white film, the image above is your average piece of 1960s photojournalism. Grant tackles an interesting perspective, taking an outside approach. Not allowed in the recording booth while the actors are at work, he takes aim from behind the glass wall connecting the booth with the production team. He sits with, presumably, the producer as they overlook the scene, making sure the actors are putting their all into these characters. The image is exactly what one would expect of a behind the scenes report on a television show, and this is precisely the type of aesthetic that Grant was hoping to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the image that found its home in the pages of LIFE <\/em>has a catch. Directly across from the voice actors stand their animated counterparts with friendly faces and primitive attire. Take a closer look, and this image serves as a direct parallel to one of Reinhardt\u2019s own drawings. \u201cSome Vacation,\u201d published in PM <\/em>in 1944, depicts a cartoon rail worker looking out at the tracks where a real image of a train stands in stark contrast to the animated figure. The Bedrock residents seem almost cut and pasted into this photo much like the worker in Reinhardt\u2019s drawing. These two pieces of media mesh cartoons and real-life images to rebel against the high-low debate. By combining these two art forms, both artists push the boundaries of high-low art to make cohesive, multimedia images that question the validity of the debate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ad Reinhardt, “Some Vacation,” PM<\/em>, 1944.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But how exactly did The Flintstones<\/em> become such a cultural phenomenon? What about this archaic family was special to the American public? As televisions became more widely accessible to the American public, news and TV shows became a non-stop means of entertainment and education. Jonathan Crary, in a case study on the television, describes its “imposition of homogeneous and habitual behaviors on spheres of life that had previously been subject to less direct forms of control” (Crary 79). At the heart of the home, the TV room became a breeding ground for ideas of domesticity and consumerism to intertwine. He further points out that “at the same time, it was the setting in place of conditions which would subsequently be essential for the 24\/7 ‘attention economy’ of the twenty-first century” (Crary 80). The television became a space for cartooning to gain attention and credibility in the eyes of the American public, further combating this “low-art” categorization.2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although families tuning into The Flintstones<\/em> were not purchasing a product specifically, they were buying into a lifestyle of white, heterosexual, middle-class suburbia. Though primitive by nature, the structure of the Flintstone family mirrored that of the nuclear family of the United States. The heterosexual couple, along with their child, pet, and neighbors, stood as a foundation for modern Americans. Cartoons began to serve as entertainment not only for children, but for their parents watching along. Father\u2019s found themselves identifying with Fred Flintstone and his passion for golf while mother\u2019s saw themselves in the beautiful and domestic Wilma. The cartoon serves as a framework for what the family “should” look like and how they should act. The father should be hardworking and social while the mother should be the epitome of domestic life. While societal norms have evolved, there is no doubt that the emergence of cartoons appealing to adults have paved the way for popular cartoons today such as The Simpsons<\/em> (1989), Family Guy<\/em> (1999), and Rick and Morty<\/em> (2013). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it be The Flintstones <\/em>(“Low-Art”) <\/em>or The Intervention of the Sabine Women<\/em> (“High-Art”), the importance of visual media is not lost on viewers. While it takes an open, objective mind to begin comparing the two, the outcome is sure to deepen understanding and appreciation of art and art history. Though one is accessible from any screen in the U.S. and one on display only in the Louvre Museum in Paris, both works are on display behind a sheet of glass\u2014a similarity that, while often overlooked, invites much discussion about the classification of visual media. This is to say that an individual’s experience with art cannot be placed within a universally assigned hierarchy. It is inherently wrong for society to assign distinction to a piece of art without taking into account an individual’s free will and agency in viewing. At the end of the day, the interpretation of the observer and the accessibility of visual media work to silence the high-low debate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
  1. Hill, Jason E. \u201cHow to Look at News Pictures in America.\u201d\u00a0American Art<\/em>\u00a030, no. 2 (2016): 78\u201391. \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li>
  2. Crary, Jonathan.\u00a0“24\/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep.” (2014): 61-89.\u00a0 \u21a9\ufe0e<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What makes a piece of visual media worth viewing? Who and what dictates an artwork\u2019s worth and its indoctrination into museums or magazines? For ages, art historians of all disciplines have been conflicted on the issue of high versus low art. \u201cHigh\u201d art is said to be anything worthy of being viewed in a museum […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"[{\"id\":\"114336ef-5db0-4e58-b2f3-92eac9345c45\",\"content\":\"Hill, Jason E. \\u201cHow to Look at News Pictures in America.\\u201d\\u00a0American Art<\\\/em>\\u00a030, no. 2 (2016): 78\\u201391.\"},{\"id\":\"2cf03658-7b4b-4073-976f-7e6add413f93\",\"content\":\"Crary, Jonathan.\\u00a0\\\"24\\\/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep.\\\" (2014): 61-89.\\u00a0\"}]"},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arth.hamiltonlits.org\/fa-23-110\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}