Exam 15: Art and Media

The importance of "provenance"-or the origins of a piece of "fine art" or an antique-has long been a critical component of its value for buyers. The text discusses a similar type of evaluation that occurs depending on the perceived "authenticity" of so-called primitive art. Using the specific example of the art produced by artists in West Africa, explain how this way of producing art is marketed as authentic and what that means. How does this approach to both art and its value and authenticity help engage these artists with a global market?

What is the predominant export destination of West African art?

Côte d'Ivoire's art traders actively engage in the construction of:

As discussed in the text, where is the art known as "wood" and "mud" primarily produced?

Which population made up the majority of the 40 million people who read National Geographic at its peak?

Jessica Winegar's study of art exhibits displaying Middle Eastern and Islamic art after 9/11 suggests that the ability for art to serve as a "bridge builder" is severely limited by what?

Pick an example of American art (either pop or fine art) or media and subject it to an anthropological analysis. In what context does it occur? Who is the intended audience? How does it intersect with race, ethnicity, class, sexuality, politics, or economics? Consider what specific questions you would want to answer if you were to conduct an ethnographic study of this art or media form. How would you structure your research?

Early anthropologists played an important role in the acquisition of art that came from Oceania, Africa, and Latin America. What was it referred to at that time?

What does the analysis of European Paleolithic cave art indicate?

What kind of anthropologist would study the trends in boy band culture and their fans from the 1990s-today?

The author discusses the importance of art found in caves inhabited by humans in the Paleolithic era for understanding the lifestyles of early humans. Summarize the important finds in Africa and Europe to explain how archaeological excavations of the painters' studio found in the cave have shone new light on our knowledge and understanding of the technologies developed by early humans, including when humans created art. Use two additional examples from southern Europe to discuss ways that evidence from the Paleolithic era has expanded our understanding of the social life and religious beliefs of "cavemen" and the way that human cultures have developed, including when we see evidence of widespread production of art.

What do anthropologists emphasize in definitions of art?

Consider the global trade of West African "wood" and "mud" artwork. Are these objects "authentic"?

What term does Arjun Appadurai use to refer to the global cultural flows of media and visual images that enable linkages and communication across boundaries?

What is the term used to describe a viewer's perception of an object's antiquity, uniqueness, and originality within a local culture?

In order to make their art appeal to Western buyers, artists in West Africa often artificially stain, age, and dirty their creations so it fits their buyers' ideals that African art should be what?

What is reflected in decisions about what is displayed as fine art?

In addition to selling art to tourists in their home countries, many West African art traders immigrate to the U.S. and sell their wares in marketplaces in New York City. How do these traveling art traders receive honor and prestige in their home countries?

The decentralized production and circulation of new digital content, facilitated by satellites, computers, and handheld devices that has challenged the state's ability to control content online and elsewhere, has led to new opportunities for activism and the challenging of existing power structures largely through what kind of media?

What form of technology emerged in the twentieth century as a dominant form of global communication, impacting art and art production?