"A Raphael is not a painting in the National Gallery - it is an active force in our lives."
Ben Nicholson - 'Notes on Abstract Art'. 5.

"Skill without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagination without skill gives us modern art. "
Tom Stoppard - 'Artist Descending a Staircase' 6.

When I asked my art lecturer colleagues - as research for this work - what they see as the role of Art in society, over half of them said, in varying forms, to change the world. Admittedly they all said it whilst laughing and not without an acute sense of self-awareness and embarrassed idealism, but they did say it, and for good reason. The idea that the artist, and art, is important for the world and is a High human endeavour is now widely regarded as being a by-product of the Renaissance period 7 , and the acceptance of the individual to embrace their own worth and influence in all areas of human relations. Artists - with their radical ideas - became central figures in furthering the debate of mankind's existence, as they now not only reflected the ideas and symbols of religion, philosophy, and morality, they also began to question them. 8 In similar ideal terms then, to be educated in the Fine Arts 9 was held in high esteem and became core to the Classical training for Kings, Queens, Emperor's and Empresses across the Western world, and deemed as important as Mathematics, Sciences, Philosophy and Religion. Now in the modern era we see a situation where, in the hierarchy of 'importance' in popular opinion, out of the classical subjects, Science is the undisputed pack leader, closely followed by Mathematics, with Religion and The Arts trailing a poor 3rd and 4th. Philosophy would be lucky to be even on that scale at all.

Whilst there is no doubt that the cultural landscape and sense of priorities has changed since the Renaissance period, it is interesting to witness that it is not only Religion which today still maintains to hold a moral and high position in society. It is not surprising however to understand why, if in popular opinion art is no longer seen as a priority for modern society and viewed more as a desirable luxury, the perception of art education has gone much the same way. Art education providers would say this is a contradiction because their courses are oversubscribed and more popular than ever, but the majority of their students will be young, and the voice of popular opinion is predominantly old. Popular Opinion and Popular Culture are in no way the same thing, and should not be confused with one another.10

"To have almost limitless power to call up any image, to convey and receive information without any restraints, to create, as it were, one's own world, would reinforce the dangerous perception that life has no purpose beyond individual gratification."

Lord Hasgood 14.

It would not be accurate however to paint a picture in which it appears that art has somehow been left behind covered in cobwebs in the 15th Century, with the rest of society embracing all notions of progress, civilisation and modern thought marching proudly into 2004. The art world too has a very different cultural landscape than the Renaissance era, and has evolved in tandem with the rest of society, (some would argue beyond). Go into any contemporary art gallery today and you will see, instead of traditional painting and sculpture, the use of video, photography, advertising, computers, music and a whole host of other modern technological approaches and ideas explored in the work. Ironically though, it is exactly this evolution of the art world which holds it up for the most severe of the current criticism. It is when artists fully embrace the ideas of the Renaissance and take it to its' extreme level - Individualism - that the floodgates open and the "elitist" accusations fly. Rather than (only) tackling the classic metaphysical questions 15 encouraged by the Renaissance period, artists have by-and-large begun questioning everything else as well; from fast-food, television and sexuality, through to the mass media and even the holy grail of popular opinion itself. The Art World's gaze has not proved to be shy and even questions itself - challenging the very notion of what is classed as art at all. In critiquing itself, it could be argued that the art world is far more questioning, ruthless and honest than the media, which has been notoriously criticised for its failures of self regulation. 16

With this in mind, many artists and art educators would argue that if ever Art could change the world, it would be now.