Understanding Bourdieu

After having read the set chapter from last weeks lecture of Understanding Bourdieu Australian CulturalStudies, I have been left with several questions in my mind as to what I now would consider to be art and if we look at art differently depending on our class or not.

I have always had a mixed opinion about what I believe to be art, and I still to this day think it has to be something real, something that represents a culture or a way of living which is relevant to the times and also has to be done well, creating a true reflection of what it is trying to show. I am not a lover of performance art or surreal art but this is just my personal taste, and I don't believe it to have anything to do with my 'class' or upbringing as a child. This is just what I do and do not like.

The idea that Bourdieu has of people who have come from upper class backgrounds that are interested in art I think is wrong, or misleading. I wouldn't say I was brought up in a particular upper class family and I still have an interest in art and have been to galleries and museums on my own accord. I think to make such an assumption is a very bold statement to make.

Talent or creativity in art I think also has nothing to do with your upbringing or class as there are plenty of talented people who have never been to a museum in their life, and what their idea of art is may be a completely different idea to what the general public or Bourdieu perceive art to be, and although I am more a lover of traditional art I think the mixture of different tastes is a great thing and allows for some diversity in the creative world and gets all sorts of people involved.

Another point made my Bourdieu is that art is only art when it is in done by a recognised artist or is in a context of art such as a gallery or museum, this again I disagree with, because to create art I don't think you have to be recognised as an artist, does this mean that all work created here in the DOJ is not art? This statement I think is only encouraging the argument of upper class people being interested in art because it puts a label onto it, and makes it seem of quiet a high status thing to be involved in, or interested in which should not be the case at all. Art is all around us, everywhere we look and if we want to get people form a lower class interested we need encourage people to go to galleries and enjoy what they see and not to be afraid to participate or create something new, that maybe one day will be recognised as the true meaning of what art really is.