Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

153 Conclusion
arisen and learn from acknowledged practitioners how to engage
in that activity themselves. the practice must be artistic and the
product must be art (see Manfredi. 1982: 76-85; Crane. 1987: 9­
11). On the other hand. when academicians and certified art critics
ridicule or. worse yet, totally ignore a body of objects. it is
unlikely that those objects will achieve artistic legitimacy. Practices
that are easily mastered by the common person or that result
in products that are not regarded as being worthy of serious theoretical
analysis-that is. which can be "understood" without "explanation"
by expert critics-are. at best, weak candidates for
recognition by the conventional art world.
Within the organizational structure surrounding any mode of
cultural production. primary control of production and the product
is derived from control over the distribution apparatus (Hirsch.
1972; Monaco. 1978). Consequently. the physical setting in which
objects are presentedfor (aesthetic) appreciation or sale is an
important factor in their institutional authentication. Gallery
owners and museum directors act as key gatekeepers in the art
world and art museums or art galleries contain objects which are.
by definition. art (Becker. 1982: 93-130; MukeIji. 1978: 360; Pellegrini.
1966: 301-303; Dickie. 1971: 102-103; Crane. 1987: 110­
136). If the results of a specific activity are ignored or disdained
by the controllers of legitimating settings-either because they are
regarded as being unworthy or because they are so unconventional
in scale (for example. earthworks) ororganization (for example. conceptual
art) that they present logistic problems within the setting-the
products are handicapped in their definitional career.
Presentation in museums or galleries does more for classes of
objects than simply certifying them as art; it also imbues objects
and activities with commercial worth. Art is a commodity acqUired
for its investment value as well as it aesthetic characteristics
and its status symboliZing functions (MukeIji. 1978: 351;
Pellegrini. 1966: 299. 308-309). As Crane (1987: 112) observes in
her discussion of avant-garde art:
While in a sense all the objects are alike (for example. paintings
are pieces of canvas with paint or other substances spread
over them). enormous differences in price exist. Value is not