This 6-page paper is an argumentative essay that refutes art critic Clement Greenberg's philosophy that art must separate itself from everyday life and everyday culture to remain pure and not become "kitsch." Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_MTartsoc.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
are a source of temptation to the avant-garde itself, and its members have not always resisted this temptation. Ambitious writers and artists will modify their work under the pressures of
kitsch, if they do not succumb to it entirely." We can take from this, therefore, that Greenburg suggests that there should
be a form of art that separates itself from the pressures of so-called "commodified" culture. In other words, works of art, should not in any way, depict everyday subjects. What
art should be is a form unto itself. With all due respect to Mr. Greenberg, what he is stating is pure
nonsense and elitism of the worst kind. It is because of comments and philosophies such as his, that art has gotten the title of "high art," with artists being considered
snobs of the worst sort, and elitists of the worst sort as well. What Mr. Greenberg is implying here is that artists should either devote themselves to "pure" art, or
else what they produce is not art at all. And art should never, never bow down to popular culture, lest it be considered "kitsch."
In this paper, well present sources that prove that Mr. Greenbergs philosophies are little more than elitist snobbery and that art, if it is to survive, must
have at its basis, culture and society in mind. Most artists, writers, dancers and playwrights, for example, when they first set out, are encouraged to create what they know. What
they know comes from everyday activities and everyday life. Before going any further, however, it would first be helpful to boil