Author: Owen, Virginia Lee and Owen, Philip James

Publication Year: 1979

Media Type: Book

Summary:

Paper presented at First International Conference on Arts and Economics, sponsored by the Association for Cultural Economics, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 8-10, 1979. Comment by Stroud Cornock appears on p. 111-113.

Abstract:

Paper presented at First International Conference on Arts and Economics, sponsored by the Association for Cultural Economics, held in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 8-10, 1979. Comment by Stroud Cornock appears on p. 111-113.

The development of art since medieval times can be viewed as a gradual enlarging of the available choices confronting the artist. As the contemporary artist prepares for a new creation, several choice variables appear. Let us consider a painter. He may choose from a variety of media, subject matters, colors, forms and physical properties. Some of these choices are restricted technologically. If, for example, he decides to do a fresco, choice of materials and other physical properties is probably restricted because of limited mobility. If one decides to paint in oil, very little restriction is placed on most of the other choices. The painter working in 979 instead of 1979 however would have been even more restricted; church and custom prescribed subject matter (religious), form (non-realistic and ethereal), color (symbolic uses of color), and style (groupings determined by numerology and attitudes determined by religious symbolism). Technology prescribed nearly all the rest - medium (fresco) and materials (plaster or gold and precious stones). It is not surprising that only a connoisseur can detect the nuances of individual artists and that for the general public medieval art all looks alike.

The Renaissance brought with it an enlarging of choices for the painter. Subject matter could be secular, as well as religious. Mobile paintings as decorations supplemented frescoes and altarpieces. Perspective and the concern for reproducing reality became an alternative to the other world style. In short, the artist had more choice variables with more alternatives for each. The art produced was more individualistic, and greater variety was thus offered to the art-buying public. This same enlargement of choice variables for the artist has continued - cubism brought choices in form, fauvism brought choices in color, and contemporary movements have freed the process and even the definition of art. Through the use of information theory, our purpose here is to model mathematically the production choices of the artist and to discuss the economic factors determining these choices insofar as they lead to innovations in art. (p. 102).

CONTENTS
Information theory as a measure of artistic innovation.
A model of diffusion of art innovations.
Summary, conclusions and implications.
Notes.
References [bibliography].

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Creative Economies