Art Life as Communicative Action on Facebook

Abstract

This research investigates art-related communicative action on Facebook and how Facebook could serve a new public sphere in terms of participation, conversation and decision-making. The aim of the research is to open a new path of research practices and produce knowledge about the current situation of art-related communication. The research also presents recommendations for the Finnish cultural sector to consider in the development process of society. The research is multidisciplinary, drawing on art education, cultural studies and cultural policy. Methodologically, it is a combination of qualitative action research and case study. The empirical data consists of the observations of two projects, interviews with experts and observations on participation in one group on Facebook. The method of analysis is theory driven content analysis. The theoretical frames are formed by the institutional theory of art and Jürgen Habermas´ theories of the lifeworld and two systems (the state and the market) and the public sphere. The concepts the art world and art life are formed from the frames of these theories. The theory of the public sphere is used to approach Facebook as a new arena of the public sphere. The challenge is to understand new dimensions of participation: forms and levels. The key findings of the research are that first, Facebook functions as an intermediary for the art-related communicative action. The users have possibilities for professional participation and action without the steering systems. If earlier the publicity of art has been controlled by institutions, now on social media the institutional art world and art life function more equally. Secondly, although Facebook could technically work as a platform for art-related communication and decision-making, it is not perceived to work like this. But Facebook has features which provide a model for a future public sphere.

Keywords: Jürgen Habermas, the art world, art life, social media, Facebook, the public sphere, participation, communicative action