The Conceptual Framework is a linked set of agencies that assist in the critical analysis of

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...

. They can be discussed as separate entities or by connecting them to meta-frames that are cultural,

structural A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such ...

, subjective, and postmodern.

Overview

The four agencies encompass the questions of "who, what, when, where and why", and are as follows: # Artist – the role of the artist where the

work is explored as the product of practitioners such as artists,

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pro ...

speople,

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

s and

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

ers. The artist can be seen as an individual or as a group or movement. # Audience – the role and value of the audience. The concept of audience can be evaluated historically or critically. The audience may be specific such as art historians or critics, or other members of the public such as students,

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

s, art buyers, etc. Or the audience may be abstract as when notions of "viewing" and "authorship" come into it. Artworks themselves are static, but the audience and their interpretation changes over time. # Artwork – artworks as real objects. This includes

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, design,

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, and genres of these, as well as presentations of an artist's personal and cultural

reflection Reflection or reflexion may refer to: Science and technology * Reflection (physics), a common wave phenomenon ** Specular reflection, reflection from a smooth surface *** Mirror image, a reflection in a mirror or in water ** Signal reflection, in ...

s. Additionally, there exists the opportunity for symbolic interpretations and modern reinterpretations. # World – how interests "in the world" are represented in the art. This includes

Socio-political Political sociology is an interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro levels of analysis. Interested in the social causes and consequences of how ...

aspects such as

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

ideologies An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...

, etc.; experiences of the world, personal to the artist or experienced by the collective; interests of the art world—movements, styles, innovations, pressures,

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

and more.?

Art frames

"Art frames" are "meta-frames" which are generally associated with the conceptual framework and take the conceptual framework further. They include the structural, subjective, postmodern and cultural "frame" where art is understood as "text" and language. In this way, art itself becomes analytical and self-aware. The subjective frame comprises mainly feelings and

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is currently no scientific ...

s expressed, and of audience response or interpretation. The structural frame refers to physical techniques and principles applied to the artwork, such as

mediums Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...

, overall structure, facture"Facture", Chicago Journals, ''American Art'', Vol. 23, No. 1, Spring 2009 "Facture refers to the way a thing is made... Paying attention to facture is paying attention to artistic process." and the use of symbols. (An example of facture is the work of French artist Daniel Buren and the work of wrapper

Christo Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and ...

.) The cultural frame examines the influence of differing aspects of culture upon the artwork, such as race or class issues,

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

or taste. The postmodern frame does not apply only to

postmodern art Postmodern art is a body of art movements that sought to contradict some aspects of modernism or some aspects that emerged or developed in its aftermath. In general, movements such as intermedia, installation art, conceptual art and multimedia, ...

works, but as an attitude to artworks in general. Features of the postmodern frame include traditionally non-artistic aspects, such as appropriation, and the use of humour and irony. These frames can be applied in order to direct or analyse artworks in addition to the conceptual framework.

References

External links

Australian HSC site for Visual Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conceptual Framework Business of visual arts