While discussing the case of horses of San Marco, Gumpert brings up the idea of art scarcity. The discussion revolves around comparing paintings created only once and books for which such a restriction seems illogical (Gumpert 20). Books are usually reprinted, and this process does not seem to lower one’s ability to enjoy the contents. Thus, a question arises – if a book were printed once, would its artistic value (not rareness derived from a collector’s perspective) be higher than that of the same work with thousands of copies?
Gumpert also touches on the distinction between mass culture and high culture. The author provides arguments against viewing the quality of art as subjective and states that the two types of art have distinct functions. Mass culture is meant to fill the gap in one’s day and amuse them, while high art’s aim is to inspire (Gumpert 31). Nevertheless, it can be argued that some pieces of mass media stimulate introspection in individuals and motivate them to produce their own art. Here lies a question – can a work of mass media reach the quality of high art, and what distinguishes a highly inspirational and introspective piece of mass culture from a work of high culture?
The author discusses taped videos and live performances and broadcasts as they happened in the 80s. He presents an interesting view into the past of television and other video-based media channels (Gumpert 44). Today, live broadcasting and news reporting are commonplace on the internet, and people often expect all sources to deliver new information as quickly as possible. Does this new culture of continuous live coverage affect the audience’s perception of the importance of events broadcast in real-time?
Work Cited
Gumpert, Gary. Talking Tombstones and Other Tales of the Media Age. Oxford University Press, 1987.