Sustainability in Fine Art: : A Gramscian Interpretation

This study investigates the sustainability of the Fine Arts through the lens of Gramscian thinking. The theory of cultural hegemony is applied to the art world to understand how the arts are practiced in terms of sustainability. Additionally, ecological art is explored as a proponent of sustainability within the arts and in wider society. This study utilised a qualitative method to gather and analyse data, semi-structured interviews were carried out and analysed through thematic analysis to reveal relevant themes and concepts. Analysis and discussion determined that cultural hegemony is an appropriate theory to apply to the art world and can explain why the fine arts are unsustainable, they are operating within the wider economic system of capitalism and therefore share its production and consumption patterns. Encouraging excessive use of raw materials and carbon intensive techniques as well as sharing capitalisms class divide. The conflation of these factors is generating unsustainable practice in the arts.