Cultural Hierarchies

Cultural Hierarchies 

Culture -the arts and other intellectual activities in which people participate in e.g. other people see your work to bring a group of people together with a shared interest. Could be put on the internet or exhibitions but if no-body sees your work is does not take part in culture. It has to be seen by society.

Websites such as The Photographers Gallery and Magnum are all cultural and they show and share peoples work and therefore is seen by whoever visits the website - obviously this a more directed culture as people uninterested in art and photography are unlikely to look on these websites therefore not being included in this specific culture by choice.

Tate is a much more popular website known by a wider range of people where as Hussar and Wirth is not as well known and therefore has a smaller cultural influence as the audience is smaller than websites such as Magnum and Tate.

Hierarchies - putting things in an order dependant on your personal values. Therefore within cultures, individuals will hold certain elements higher than others due to different values.
It is a system in which members of an organisation or society are ranked according to relative status or authority

Religion is one of the highest rated and most influential systems - many different cultures under one culture - i think this because everyone who is religious shares a belief in something whether it is the same or not but that core idea of believing and following a religion stems across all believers. Religious buildings are made so big so everyone can see them and they stand out, highlighting their value - this is a physical and visual representation of cultural hierarchy - the bigger the better.

Locating Hierarchies - evident in differences of Uni's. For example UoB used to be a polytechnic and is now a uni - there are no practical arts course, more academic based and students study in a much nicer/older building which is often viewed as 'beautiful' often buildings like this have history about it and therefore more interesting to some people because it has a past. UWE (bower ashton) is art based and the building is not as classic compared to UoB however it has much more modern features. I feel the stigmatisation of academic and art based courses increases the idea of UoB being higher in the hierarchy within society as to a lot of people, art and the creative industry is "not a proper degree" and therefore automatically approving and thinking more highly of UoB's building because it is associated with academic degrees and stands out physically. I have experienced the dismissal of my photography degree by being questioned 'what do you actually do other than press a button' or 'where is it going to take you in life?'  However society is based around photography - everywhere you go you are presented with images whether it is on a billboard or in a car brochure or holiday brochure or on the front cover of a book or in the newspaper or online on fashion websites - there are endless places in which photography is needed and companies employ photographers to do this. Therefore it may not be seen as an academic based subject but with the ever growing industry it is becoming and important part in society and people's everyday lives.

Art Reviews - throughout anything many people seek reviews to decide what value they place on something, for example buying a new dress: if three people decide it was not a good material/good fit etc it automatically puts doubt in your mind but you don't know what these people are like/what values they hold and therefore you are making a judgment based on other peoples views instead of your own. This links to reviews on art - who decides what is the best picture of the month and why? It puts the idea into society that these people awarding artists for their work are more powerful than anyone else and they are dictating the way art is and what people should and shouldn't be interested in.  If you are presented with a list of the top 100 artists you are encouraged to agree/disagree but still unable to engage with the people who didnt make it onto the list because a selection of people didn't think it was as worthy.

But this process and idea of a few people dictating and reviewing your work good enough or not is becoming over powering - its society. As a photographer working with clients you have to give them what they want and if two people completed the same brief the client would go with the one they prefer more often than not the one the prefer purely based on the visual not the meaning ( in some cases). Again this is putting someones value on a piece of art therefore ranking it higher than others, meaning it may be viewed more by society as they are being told this is better or more valuable than this.

However, like anything the more influence you have over society the more power you have and in the creative arts industry often people have many connections and therefore have more chance to do well as if you don't know anyone and don't 'get in' it can make becoming successful difficult.

Hierarchies are forever changing - things are ranked highly due to values you and society give them however as life and trends are ever changing peoples values also change for example you don't necessarily have the same values at the end of high school as you do when you graduate from university - you learn and grow and understand your own interests more. I think to be able to accept what is culturally ranked high but still have your own individual rankings is a good thing.

Competitions and prizes: people enter completeions and respond to a brief to get their work out there and their name known and this will eventually help with future work especially if your work wins and is acknowledged. therefore competitions are important as it helps your get connections and your work entered into a wider society. Even within this, there are still people dictating and deciding who wins and although this can be seen as a negative to people who don't win and their work won't be seen in society - it can help with future jobs and contacts.

"Awards are a mark of acceptance"

Cupid stunt was a tv programme which wasn't accepted to be shown on mainstream tv however he actively challenged this dismissal of his show and did his own thing which eventually got enough recognition and views it earned air time. I think it is good to challenge hierarchies as it shows that some people won't accept what a small minority of people think and believe enough in their own work to make it successful.

Cultural Capital

Taste has been historically formed through a process of admiring and desiring objects that are deemed beautiful.

BEAUTY - B U Y - E A T
eating through your eyes - buying into it.

what is deemed beautiful? tastes are not learn and are not natural it is taught and inflicted through socialisation - its reflects our own and families culture.

You are forever choosing what is important to you and want isn't...
"I'm not bothered" is still a choice, it is choosing to not engage with something and at that moment in time that reflects your taste and to some extent about yourself - it is not a definite opinion (in my personal view).