Talking Art - The Culture of Practice and the Practice of Culture in Mfa Education

In Talking Art, acclaimed ethnographer Gary Alan Fine gives us an eye-opening look at the contemporary university-based master's-level art program. Through an in-depth analysis of the practice of the critique and other aspects of the curriculum, Fine reveals how MFA programs have shifted the goal of creating art away from beauty and toward theory. Contemporary visual art, Fine argues, is no longer a calling or a passion--it's a discipline, with an academic culture that requires its practitioners to be verbally skilled in the presentation of their intentions. Talking Art offers a remarkable and disconcerting view into the crucial role that universities play in creating that culture.

About the author

Gary Alan Fine is the James E. Johnson Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. He has written many books, including, most recently The Hinge: Civil Society, Group Cultures, and the Power of Local Commitments, also published by the University of Chicago Press.

Summary

Gary Fine opens up the contemporary art practice MFA and finds that it’s mostly about theorizing and arguing about art, and very little about actually making it.

Product details

• Authors: Gary Alan Fine, Fine Gary Alan
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.08.2018
• EAN: 9780226560212
• ISBN: 978-0-226-56021-2
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > General, dictionaries; Sociology, Theory of art, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General, ART / Business Aspects, Teaching of a specific subject, Art: Financial Aspects, EDUCATION / Schools / Levels / Higher