‘Art for the sake of Art’- Then & Now

Through the analysis of Charles Ricketts’ and Charles Shannon’s – the editors of The Dial – intentions in producing the volume of the little magazine just for ‘Art’s sake,’ I have observed a similar tactic with the circulation of art today. Specifically, this interesting thought came to my mind when a fellow colleague mentioned the divide between the forms of art being produced today. He pointed out, that there is an obvious tension between art makers today: one side is leaning more towards the digital format of artmaking and there are those that are strictly abiding to older traditions of art making or craftsmanship ; like embroidery or pottary. The angle that I want to put on this thought is the idea the combination of these two polarized forms of art together exits and is presenting as art, seen on social media platforms like Instagram.

There are many artistic personals/profiles on Instagram which showcase traditional art making through this digital platform,  just for an art loving audience. This form of digital remetiation can be seen as a mode of production in which the creators are only concerned with art for art’s sake. Therefore, the culture of production for these Instagram artits’s is to circulate any form of art to audiences purely to promote the art itself. There is no easier way of putting these complex reproduction methods into a theory but to summarize; the idea of social platforms showcasing a combination of old and new artistic craftsmanship reminds me of  the concept ‘art for the sake of art’- an idea which is prevalent in the 2nd volume of The Dial (1892).