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5. ART, MEDIA AND CULTUREVersion 1.3 March 2013 (Previous Version) Why bother talking about art, media or culture? Is it of any practical use? We know some of it is entertaining, but is art and culture ever any more than that? Do we really have to take seriously artists raving about the value of their art? isn't it just a business for many of them, and a harmless hobby for the rest? What can we learn from it that affects our daily lives? Ludwig Wittgenstein, the Austrian 20th century philosopher, ended his famous early work “Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus” with the line “Whereof we cannot speak thereof one must be silent”. At the time he thought there was a whole area that we couldn’t even talk about. Can art fill the gap? Is there any truth in the notion that art can convey a message that cannot be said? In fact, what is art? What makes a thing “art”? Can we rely on radio or TV news, blogs on the internet, or even old fashioned newspapers? Do the stories we are told, in movies, TV serials or books, provide any insights into reality? If science is complicated, consider the arts, media and culture – almost infinite diversity! All humans spend a huge amount of their time participating in cultural activities and consuming media and the arts. Indigenous people say culture dominates their lives. So called ‘modern people’ may not go to the theatre to see a live performance of opera, a play or classical music, and claim they have no interest in ‘culture’. But culture in the broadest sense includes not just visual and performing arts but all the ways in which members of a society interact with each other, and the underlying assumptions and hidden narratives that these practices reflect. Reading your phone while travelling on a train or bus, or sitting with friends, is participating in local and global culture. Part 5 addresses the diverse forms of communication, through art, the media and cultural pursuits. · Some people think that the best way to communicate a message is to state it as clearly as we can, using language as close to that of science as possible. Some call this reductionist, clinical, objective or rational. Sometimes it is jargon, “management speak”, or political spin. · Others think that some things can only be said indirectly, in allegories, metaphors, images or religious stories. Some call this gobbledegook. Others call it poetic licence, or literature. · Some think some things cannot be said at all. How can we hear a message that can’t be said? Many artists are pleased if their works raise questions. Here, we are concerned with the answers. Journalists avoid perjury if they tell us the truth. But do they tell us the whole truth?
We look at art, media and culture under these headings, to see what we can learn from them:
As we discuss the arts and media, we learn how they can provide factual knowledge and emotional insights that help us to effect our values, to be part of our shared heritage and be more humane.
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We acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of Country, throughout all colonised lands, and their connections to land, waters and community. We pay respect by giving voice to truth, values and social justice, acknowledging our shared history, and valuing the cultures of first nations peoples.
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