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What can traditional Folk art-making say about the contemporary world?

What can traditional late Folk art-making say about the contemporary world? What can it do for the contemporary world and in contemporary art?

Reply 1

ArtsUniPlymouth

Official Rep

Hi there,

I think you raise an interesting question about how classical art making can exist within the zeitgeist. I think there is a connection - or maybe disconnection - between the human made, handmade artefacts of yesteryear melded with the contemporary digital artefact. Intrinsically, folk art is handmade and has a fallible quality of humans, as it isn't perfect and contains curves instead of surgically straight lines and sterility.

I think creating folk art within a 21st century western setting can question the state we currently live in, whether that is politically or societally. It can raise the question of have we lost our way with humanity, or is society becoming more calculated - less human and more robotic. You could draw a parallel between our origins and how, since the industrial revolution, have strayed from this path and instead of yearning for community and living off of the land, we have utilised industrial processes, capitalism and geopolitics to create our epoch and our future. The folk art could also raise a question of our future: Are we headed to a new state of supermodernity and damaging the environment that we are thrown back hundreds of years due to natural/manmade disaster(s)?

These are all ideas from the top of my head, but it would be interesting to hear any feedback or ideas from these. I hope this helps, and doesn't raise even more questions for you!

Regards,

Ray Goodwin
Student Ambassador
MA Photography Student