TEXT C In many cultures people
make a distinction between fine art and folk art. Although telling the
difference between these two types of art is not always easy, each has certain
general characteristics that help to identify it. One characteristic of folk
art, for example, is that it is the product of ordinary people, the folk.
Furthermore, folk art is often traditional in composition and subject matter.
Fine art, in contrast, is usually the product of professionals who have studied
art. These professional artists are usually more strongly influenced by the
contemporary world and modern composition than by tradition.
Another difference between folk and fine art is that folk art is often
created to decorate a functional object. For example, a person who decorates his
or her home by sculpting the wooden beam that holds up the roof is creating folk
art. Fine art, on the other band, is usually purely decorative. Its only
function is to its environment. A third distinguishing
characteristic of folk art is that it is "participatory". This means that the
art is created through the active involvement of the participants in the
artistic project. For instance, a work song is created when a group of workers
with one job to do sing together. By singing together, they make their work
easier and also create a song that is considered to he folk art. In addition,
paintings on the walls of churches are sometimes considered folk art since many
people are involved in the endeavor, not only painters. The participants who are
not skillful at drawing or painting, mix colors or clean up spilled paint. Fine
art, such as music, how ever, seldom involves participation of any one besides
the artist. Other people are usually not involved in the production. People at a
music concert are only listeners, not participants. In the same way, a fine-art
painting is primarily the work of one known artist, not a group. Folk art is
characterized by anonymity; the folk artist is rarely, if ever,
known. A final distinctive characteristic of folk art is that it
tends Io become rarer as a society becomes more industrialized. When machines
produce all of the objects that people are likely to need in their everyday
lives, people are likely to stop producing and decorating household objects at
home. Likewise, when most people have radios, they tend to listen to the songs
on the radio while they work rather than to sing traditional work songs.
However, the quality and quantity of fine art do not decrease with
industrialization. In fact, the amount may increase if industrialization raises
the standard of living, thus creating a larger number of people who can afford
to buy fine art. The author’s attitude toward folk art is ______.