‘Marxism & Art’
‘In the social production of
their life men enter into definite, necessary relations, that are indispensable
and independent of their will, relations of production which correspond to a
definite stage of development of their material productive forces. The sum
total of these relations of production constitutes the economic structure of
society, the real foundation on which rises a legal and political
superstructure and to which correspond definite forms of social consciousness.
The mode of production of material life conditions the social, political and
intellectual life process in general. It is not the consciousness of men that
determines their being, but on the contrary it is their social being that
determines their consciousness. At a certain stage in their development, the
material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing
relations of production ...
…From
forms of development of the productive forces, these relations turn into their
fetters. Then begins an era of social revolution.
With the change in economic
foundation the whole immense superstructure is more or less rapidly
transformed. In considering such transformations it is always necessary to
distinguish between the material transformation of the economic conditions of
production, which can be determined with the precision of natural science, and
the legal, political, religious, artistic or philosophic, in short, ideological
forms in which men become conscious of this conflict and fight it out.’
Marx, (1857) ‘Contribution to the critique of
Political Economy’
‘[ The ruling class has ] to
represent its interest as the common interest of all the members of society,
... to give its ideas the form of universality, and represent them as the only
rational, universally valid ones.
Karl Marx, (1846) The German Ideology,
Raphael,
as well as any other artist, was conditioned by the technical advances of art
which had been made before him, by the organisation and division of labour in
his locality, and finally, by the division of labour in all the countries with
which his locality was in communication. Whether an individual like Raphael
develops his talents depends entirely on demand, which in turn depends entirely
on the division of labour and the educational conditions of men which result
from it…
The exclusive concentration
of artistic talent in single individuals and its suppression in the broad mass
of people which this entails is a consequence of the division of labour…
With a communist organisation
of society, there ceases, in any event, the subsumption of the artist under
local and national limitations, which ensues solely from the division of
labour, and there ceases the subsumption of the individual under one determined
art, whereby he is exclusively a painter, a sculptor etc. and already his
designation sufficiently expresses the limitation of his commercial career and
his dependence on the division of labour. In a communist society, there are no
painters, but at most men, who, among other things, also paint’
Marx, (1845) German Ideology
Key terms to
investigate further
Fordism / Taylorism /
Capitalism / Late Capitalism / Globalisation /
Exchange Value / Use Value / Alienation / Reification / Atomisation /
Commodity Fetish / Dialectics / Materialism / False Consciousness /
incorporation / Culture Industry
Selected Bibliography
Barrell, J
(1980) ‘The Dark Side of the Landscape: The rural poor in English painting’
Berger, J (1972)
‘Ways Of Seeing’
Bishop, C (2005)
‘Installation Art: A critical history’
Bourriaud, N
(2002) ‘Relational Aesthetics’
Barthes, R
(1972) ‘Mythologies’
D'Amato, P. (2006) The
Meaning Of Marxism, Chicago, Haymarket Books.
Marx Internet
archive available on http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/index.htm
Works to
particularly look at-
Introduction to Critique of Philosophy of Right (1844)
Economic & Philosophic Manuscripts (1844)
Theses On Feuerbach (1845)
German Ideology (1845)
Communist Manifesto (1848)
Preface to Contribution To A Critique Of Political Economy (1859)
Study Guide for Capital:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/guide/index.htm
You might find this a useful aid.
McClellan, D. (ed.) (2000) Karl
Marx: selected writings, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
McNally, D. Socialism from Below (1997), available at http://www.marxsite.com/socialism_from_below_by_david_mc.htm#table.
McNally’s pamphlet provides a concise overview of the history of struggles for
emancipation, and may help you frame contemporary debates
Sekula, A (1999) ‘Fish Story’
Strinati, J. (2nd edition 2004) ‘An Introduction To Theories Of Popular Culture’, London, Routledge
pp. 115-153, JK 306.2
Stallabrass, J. (2001) ‘High Art Lite: Brit Art in the 1990’s’
Storey, J. (4th edition 2006) ‘Cultural Theory and Popular Culture’, Harlow, Prentice Hall,
pp.47-70.
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