Essay on "Poverty and Art"

Essay 4 pages (1328 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

"Branding, for example, requires the accentuation of differences, often relying on the processes of dichotomizing, essentializing, and 'otherizing."[footnoteRef:6] After all, marketers frequently advise companies that the heart of a successful brand is convincing consumers that the brand offers something very different from the brand's competitors: from a standpoint of product differentiation it makes sense but from a human perspective, it is quite problematic to imply that we who are not poor are intrinsically and essentially different from the poor. [5: Ibid.] [6: Ibid.]

Just as feminists have tried to question the common assumption that men and women are inherently different, critics of the uncomplicated use of favelization and poverty objectification in general view it as problematic in terms of what it says about the plight of the poor: it suggests that because there is such a great difference between 'us' and 'them' there needs to be no change and because the poor are the objects of art, not the subjects, then 'we' (the non-poor) have a right to speak for the poor. "This is true of both product branding and national branding. Favelization is a form of both; it applies to products and urban spaces that are treated as a national stereotype that can be generalized."[footnoteRef:7] Stereotypes are mental shorthand, ways of characterizing persons deemed to be other in a way that is easy and convenient, but not necessarily correct. [7: Ibid.]

Of course, one of the reasons the very poor have been 'spoken about' rather than allowed to speak for themselves is their traditional alienation and removal from the sources of traditional tools of self-expression. That is one of the rationales behind the outsider art movement, which emphasizes empowering the traditionally disenfranchised to create art. Outsider art can "seek out and collect works of extreme individuality and inventiveness by creators who were not only untrained artists but often had little concept of an art gallery or even any other forms of art other than their own. None were professional artists or had contact with the art world and all were completely untrained."[footnoteRef:8] While my work of art is not a work of outsider art per se, it reflects the spirit that art can be 'found' in unexpected places and created by unexpected people. Even a humble clothespin has the potential for beauty although on its surface it is an archaic, non-technical aspect of mundane culture, replicated rather than unique. [8: Michel Thevoz, "What is outsider art," Raw Vision, http://rawvision.com/about/what-outsider-art [4 Nov 2014]]

So called 'poor chic' is thus not without costs to the poor, even if those costs are only ideological in nature. "Poor Chic, or an array of fads and fashions in popular culture that make recreational or stylish 'fun' of poverty, or of traditional symbols of working class and underclass statuses" must be challenged with art that dignifies the poor and their experiences and does not reduce them to commodities to be appropriated by the non-poor. [footnoteRef:9] In my own work, I have sought to reverse such trends. Instead of making art the province of a single class, art must be democratized. Art can be found in many unexpected places, not as a source of appropriated images but as art itself. [9: Karen Bettez Halnon, "Poor chic: The rational consumption of poverty," Current Sociology 50 (4) 501. Available at: doi: 10.1177/0011392102050004002 [ 4 Nov 2014]]

Bibliography

Fredrickson, Barbara & Tomi-Ann Roberts. "Objectification theory." Psychology of Women

Quarterly, 21 (1997): 173-206.

http://www.sanchezlab.com/pdfs/FredricksonRoberts.pdf

Halnon, Karen Bettez. "Poor chic: The rational consumption of poverty." Current Sociology,

50 (4) 501-516. Available at: doi: 10.1177/0011392102050004002 [4 Nov 2014]

Kertzer, Adriana. "Favelization." BRASA. Available:

http://www.brasa.org/Documents/BRASA_XII/Proceedings/Adriana%20Kertzer%20-%20Favelization.pdf [4 Nov 2014]

Kertzer, Adriana. Favelization. DesignFile, 2014.

Nichols, Tom. The Art of Poverty: Irony and ideal in 16th century beggar imagery. Manchester,

UK: Manchester University Press, 1997.

Thevoz, Michel. "What is outsider art?" Raw Vision.

http://rawvision.com/about/what-outsider-art [4 Nov 2014] READ MORE

How to Reference "Poverty and Art" Essay in a Bibliography

Related Essays:

Art the Renaissance Heralded in an Entirely Term Paper

Art

The Renaissance heralded in an entirely new tradition of art form during the 14th and 15th centuries, with a wide variety of painters, poets, writers and architects that literally… read more

Term Paper 9 pages (2995 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

Art History vs. Accounting Essay

Art and economics are often believed to reside in totally different dimensions, different realities. On the one side is the creative artist, who distances himself or herself from monetary needs.… read more

Essay 2 pages (608 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

Art Therapy Research Paper

History Of Art Therapy

Art Therapy

The Different Ages and the Overview of the Periods

History of Art Therapy

What is Art Therapy?

History of Art Therapy

Classical Period -… read more

Research Paper 5 pages (1913 words) Sources: 25 Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

Outsider Art Term Paper

Outsider Art

It is called "Outsider Art," because it stands outside the realm of "fine" art. It is painted by patients in asylums. It is created by prisoners in their… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (3266 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

Funding or Defunding in the Arts Term Paper

Funding or Defunding the Arts

Recommendations on a Proposal to Defund the Arts

This report considers the recent proposal in the House of Representatives to eradicate federal funding for the… read more

Term Paper 8 pages (2507 words) Sources: 7 Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>