Displayed Art and Performed Music: Selective Innovation and the Structure of Artistic Media*

Aesthetic innovation in symphony orchestras and art museums is strongly influenced by the fundamental structure of the art forms with which each institution is associated. Music depends on time, visual art on space; while music is ephemeral, painting and sculpture consist of concrete objects. These structural differences have implications for the organizations: costs, expectations of growth and patronage sources. Most important, just as museums are constrained to feature innovative works, performed music institutions are constrained to avoid them. Examining orchestras and art museums reveals the connections among specific art forms, organizational structures and aesthetic outcomes.     

Sartre for the twenty-first century?

By virtually dominating French intellectual life (literature, philosophy, culture) during the early post-World War II period, Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) embodied what Pierre Bourdieu calls a “total intellectual” – one who responds to and helps frame public debate on all the intellectual and political issues of the day. During his lifetime and even after his death in 1980, Sartre’s thinking and political engagements provoked sharp reactions, both positive and negative, in France and abroad. Marxism, decolonization struggles, and violence are three key themes on which Sartre’s public positions continue to generate considerable debate – a debate that remains relevant today.

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