Art, art education, creative industry: Critique of commodification and fetishism of art aesthetics in Indonesia

Abstract

This paper analyses one of the dark or negative side phenomenon in the creative industries, with particular focus on art and art education in Indonesia. It is the hegemony of economic considerations in its discourse. As a result, culture and creativity itself, as the essential spirits of the creative industry, are subordinated to considerations of materialism and profit calculation. In this discourse, art tends be defined not as a subject but as an object and functions as a medium of fetishism and commodification. In this way, the ideals and philosophy of art have been distorted. In this context, the role of art education is pivotal to the strategic creation of new cultural meanings in the discourse of creative industry. The paper argues that art education in Indonesian higher education contexts needs to take steps to reorient and revitalize itself in the context of creative industry.

Keywords

• art
• art education
• creative industry
• aesthetics
• commodification and fetishism