Business Arts

ART/ARTH/BUS 334: THE BUSINESS OF ART
TASK SHEET # 13/MODULE: WEEK 13 :

ART IN THE AGE OF MASS MEDIA AND MASS AUDIENCES

DUE DATE: Monday April 22, by 9:00 pm! Please submit in Canvas, “Assignments,” only!
 This task sheet has 2 PARTS. You must complete ALL tasks in both parts for credit!
 ONLY submit Task Sheets that are complete and based on the assigned readings. Paraphrase!: )

READINGS [ALL READINGS CAN BE ACCESSED VIA MODULE: WEEK 13]
Textb ook: “The Dissemination of Art through Reproductions, and Other Issues,” pp. 77-90.
e-Reserves: Linda Weintraub (et al.): “Barbara Kruger: Gender Equity”

PART I: INTRODUCTION TO ART IN THE AGE OF MASS MEDIA AND MASS AUDIENCES
In the beginning of the semester, your task was to visit a museum in person and to view original art.
With the advent of new technologies, from the invention of photography in the mid 19th century to the
development of digital technologies and communication via social media since the later 20 th century, the ways art
has been produced, reproduced, viewed, shared and sold has changed dramatically. Next week’s task sheet will
focus on more recent technological developments and their impact in the world of art. However, this week’s task
sheet will look at the immense impact the ability to take, mass reproduce and mass-disseminate photographic
images of artworks and monuments, as well photographs created for art, news, entertainment, advertisement, etc.
has had on art and society in the 20th century.
Our textbook focuses on the dissemination of art via reproductions and related issues in Chapter 5. It discusses
various means of dissemination (books, magazines, films, the Web, etc.), as well as the accessibility of art to
ever growing audiences and the decontextualization and popularization of art.

Key Terms
Medium refers to a means of mediation or communication, a “neutral” form through which messages pass. The
term medium also refers to the specific technologies through which messages are transmitted, such as the radio,
television, megaphone, computer, etc.
Mass Media is any medium used to transmit mass communication. Looking at the definition of mass media, it is
clear that a mass medium must communicate a message to a large group, often simultaneously. Comprised of
mainly eight mass media industries: Books, Newspapers, Magazines, and Recordings, Radio, Movies,
Television, and, beginning in the 1990s, the Internet.
Social Media, introduced in the early 2000s, are computer-mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and
sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and
networks. Social media are interactive Web and Internet-based applications that have user-generated content, text
posts, photos, videos, and data generated through online interactions.

YOUR TASKS FOR PART I
Read Textb ook: “The Dissemination of Art through Reproductions, and Other Issues,” pp. 77-90.

1) Summarize EACH of the sub-headed sections in the textbook’s chapter 5:
“The Dissemination of Art through Reproductions, and Other Issues” [pp. 77-90].

2) Describe an example and how you felt when you saw/experienced in person an artwork or monument
you had formerly only seen in a photograph. 6-8 sentences.

PART II : POSTMODERNISM IN ART AND ITS CRITIQUE OF SOCIETY AND MASS MEDIA
Postmodernism is a late 20th century movement that came after and in critical reaction to Modernism and its
tenets. The post-WWII era marked the beginning of a reaction against the modernist mindset. Postmodern art, c.
1960s to 2000, took on multiple artistic forms, including Conceptual art, Minimalism, Video art, Performance
art, Institutional Critique, and Identity Art. These art forms are diverse and disparate but connected by certain
characteristics: a fragmented subject, the breakdown of high and low culture hierarchies, undermining of
concepts of authenticity and originality, and an emphasis on identity, diversity, plurality and power hierarchies.
Many postmodern artists addressed the ideological function of art and especially images from the mass media
and popular culture in connection to society. Many postmodern artworks draw on (appropriate) already existing
representations appropriated from the mass media and popular culture, such as newspapers, magazines,
advertisements or film, but also from art history, often aimed at exposing especially gender and racial
stereotypes, as well as general power relations perpetuated and reinforced in the mass media and visual culture.

KEY ARTIST: BARBARA KRUGER
Coming from a commercial art background, Barbara Kruger uses silk-screened photomontage as her preferred
art form. She combines already existing black and white photographic images from the mass media and art with
bold texts, often set off by bright red bars. Kruger combines the “in your face” genres of advertisement and early
20th century propaganda posters. However, she adds text in which she comments, using neutral pronouns such as
“I”, “you”, “we”, and “they” on gender issues, power relations, capitalism, consumerism, and politics.
Committed to reaching out to and making her art accessible to a mass audience, several of her artworks have
been turned into commercial products, Kruger’s by now iconic style has been imitated many times, such as by
the popular brand SUPREME.

YOUR TASKS FOR PART I I: TASKS A) AND B)
Read: L. Weintraub: “Gender Equity: Barbara Kruger”

Task A): Explain Kruger’s artistic practice based on the text by Weintraub above:
1) What means does Kruger adopt in her artworks and why? (hint: pp. 192/193)
2) Why is she using only neutral pronouns in her artworks?
3) Why is she using already existing photographs?
4) What are some of the main concerns or issues her artworks address?

Task B): Select ONE of the four artworks BELOW. Please describe it first (image and text), then
explain/analyze the artwork using the reading(s). Write a paragraph of 10-12 sentences.

Artworks for Task B) [left to right]:
 Barbara Kruger: Untitled (I Shop Therefore I Am), 1990, photo-lithograph on shopping bag
 Barbara Kruger: Untitled (Your Body Is a Battleground), 1989, photomontage
 Barbara Kruger: Untitled (You are a captive audience), 1992, photomontage
 Barbara Kruger: Untitled (It’s a small world…but not if you have to clean it), 1990, photomontage