Graeme Arbuthnot – Art, Entertainment, and the Culture Industry

I’d like to further probe an idea that I brought up in class: that “Art” and “entertainment” exist in a sort of symbiotic relationship. I presented the thought that the more crap the entertainment industry produces for the masses, and for mass consumption, the harder the artists resist, and push back, attempting to create anything that is contrary to the norm. Counterculture cannot exist without culture. The mainstream is needed in order for truly resistant Art to flourish. Similar ideas are proposed in the attached video by Henry Rollins, vocalist of the legendary hardcore/punk band Black Flag. He argues that music, as an art form, is strengthened by the superfluous amount of marketed, manufactured “music” that is sold on the radio and MTV. When a band resists or denies the opportunity to be popularized, they maintain their credibility as artists.

Industry co-opts art. That is an undeniable fact, and part of the evolution of society. Innovation eventually becomes part of the mainstream, and then commodified and commercialized until it no longer holds any artistic value, only monetary value. Despicable though this process may be, it is how subcultures come into existence. Only when an idea, or genre of music, or style of painting, or any form of expression becomes the norm, can a new form of art come into existence. This process is part of how we, as part of human culture, and the culture industry, progress.