27/10/2010

Arbiters of Taste



Some questions arising from the Key Ideas Taste Symposium Wednesday 27 October 2010.

Education /
Q.How much do art and design students look to their tutors and lecturers as arbiters of taste in terms of what they learn in college?

Q.Should they? Or is the point of being at Art College to find one's own way and 'kick against' the system?

Tourism /
Q. Are objets d'art collected on overseas travel more discerning and genuine than those from home soil?

Sense of place /
Q. If Venice is known for Murano glass what is Britain to become known for, beyond Royal Doulton or Waterford Crystal?


The Influence of Others /
Q. Does an individual's taste change when they start a relationship, live with a partner or get married?

Q. What does online social networking mean for Taste?

Q. Are blogs such as 'Its Nice That' and 'Ffffound' genuine arbiters of taste? If so, what gives them authority?

Q. How old is the person at Franklin Mint who makes the decisions to put fluffy felines on plates and then advertise them in the Mail On Sunday Magazine Supplement?

1 comment:

dwebster said...

I thought this event was great but inevitably in the time available throws up more and more questions.

Is something beautiful also tasteful?

My interpretation of Duchamp's quote is that he is for 'disinterested taste' because in a way this negates the art object as a site of taste. If we are to consider Bourdieu's ideas that
taste is a product of class (a gross simplification but adequate for this comment)then you could see why art would want to avoid it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJLR96rmsfY

One of the things that the day brought home is how much use words in art and design with a very flexible understanding, this can be a good thing but can also lead to confusion.
To get an accurate understanding of words such as aesthetics, taste, beauty, art etc.. I really recommend The Routledge Companion to Aesthetics which is in the library and a really enjoyable read in bite sized chunks.