On The Institutional Theory Of Art

The topic of this research paper centers around the Institutional Theory of Art (ITA) which derives from the discussions about the "definition of art" by some western analytic aestheticians in the second half of20th century. In a narrow sense, ITA refers particularly to the theories advocated by the art philosophers like Arthur Danto and George Dickie, who propose to define art from the external context of artworks. In a broad sense, the ITA is a general term for art theories in various forms which analyze the diverse landscapes and phenomena in art world from the perspective of institutions. Though taking on different forms under different approaches, the ITA generally regards art as an institution, puts artworks and phenomena under the specific cultural and social context, and directs the focus from the "essence" of art to the institutions, behavior and power relations in art production, communication, consumption and distribution, thus breaking the aesthetic illusion of "pure art."By introducing, combing the emergence, development and evolvement of the ITA, this thesis aims to reveal an important paradigm transition in contemporary aesthetics: from exploring the "innate property" of artworks to examining the relations between artworks and its external historical, social and cultural context. In other words, the ITA has changed the essentialist question of traditional art philosophy and aesthetics "what is art?" into "why is it art?" by discussing how the status of art is acquired. The emergence of the ITA indicates that under the double pressure of contemporary art creations and the development of art theory itself, the traditional aesthetics and art philosophy need to draw theoretical resources from other disciplines (such as sociology). Aesthetics should get away from the constraints of metaphysical and abstract philosophical speculations and divert its attention from the obsession with "beauty" and dominating essentialist approach to the fusion of life and art.This thesis consists of the introduction, main body and conclusion. The main body is made up of five chapters. The introduction deals with the definition the ITA, the background, significance and approach of this research as well as the overseas and domestic status of research. Chapter One discusses the connections between the autonomous modern art system and conceptions and artistic essentialism. The essentialist approach to define art has lagged apparently behind the postmodern artistic practice. In anti-essentialism criticism, the analytic aestheticians have developed two schools:art is indefinable and art can be redefined from "non-exhibited properties." The latter school has provided new approach and perspective for the ITA.Chapter Two expounds the "artworld" theory by Danto. In his opinion,"artworld" is the institutional environment composed by artistic history and theory, which endows the object with the status of art. Danto’s "quasi-definition" of art has triggered off the question "how does something acquire its status of art?." This chapter then analyzes the some core concepts concerning this question:the ’is’ of artistic identification, constructive interpretation and discourse of reasons, and indicates that the discussion of the determination and construction of the status of art should not just stay on the linguistic level, but penetrate into the context of social reality. This approach has been carried forward and extended in Dickie’s theory.Chapter Three focuses on the early version of Dickie’s ITA with "conferral" as the core concept. To construct a value-free definition of art, Dickie firstly deconstructs "aesthetic experience" and "aesthetic attitude." Starting from "the third relational property"(art and social institution) and the classificatory sense of art concept, he proposes the core of his ITA:the acquiring of status of art is a process of conferring a qualification to an object for appreciation by art institutions, which is a system of customary and established practice.Chapter Four deals with the later phase of Dickie’s ITA and its cultural sociological turn. Firstly it summarizes some representative criticisms of the ITA among the academia of analytic aesthetics. In response to these criticisms, Dickie turns his research attention from ontological, art-definition-oriented mode of thinking to the study on the artworld as a framework of cultural structure. He employs five mutually interpreted and interdependent definitions, i. e."artist,""artworks,""the public,""artworld system," and "artworld" to form a structural framework of art institutions. This chapter also makes a comparison between Danto and Dickie in their ITA and concludes that while the Danto’s "context" and "background" in which artworks are situated is "atmosphere of theory" with metaphysical implication, Dickie’s ITA further brings the context into a more concrete and empirical area, thus taking on a more sociological meaning. Finally, this chapter discusses the culturological turn in contemporary analytic aesthetics that the ITA has triggered. ITA has demonstrated a tendency of transcending the ontology of artworks held by traditional aesthetics and approaching the culturology and sociology.In conclusion, the thesis analyzes the dilemma confronted by analytic aesthetic revealed by the ITA. The paradigm reform initiated by the ITA shows that the research and speculation on art can not be divorced from the cultural and social context of artworks. To accomplish a sustainable and diverse development, aesthetics and art philosophy must adopt theoretical resources from different disciplines.