In last weeks lecture Jonathan Baldwin asked us to think about who influences our values and tastes. Where do our good and bad opinions come from? Is taste in-built or is it acquired from the environment around us? Personally I feel that I am influenced by a number of things such as friends, family, tutors, experiences that I have had and the world that I live in. For example growing up I have always looked up to my parents and older brother and sister who have influenced me in everything but I'm sure the majority of people are influenced by their family at that age. Through the years after leaving home I haven't changed at all, apart from becoming more independent I still have the same tastes in music, T.V programmes, fashion, etc and the same values. In the lecture we were asked to write down our top 5- films, albums, classical composers and designers. We were then asked to discuss with one another our answers and to come up with top 5's for our group. Its amazing how many people write down very popular answers that are more seen as "cool" than actually being truthful about there answers and telling us there cringe worthy love for Dirty Dancing or Boyzone.
After that we discussed our opinions, why should we have an opinion on an artist/ designer if we have hardly any knowledge of different artists to begin with? A person who is a professional probably has a more accepted opinion on something as they have more knowledge of it. These opinions are also written in Understanding Pierre Bourdieu where he discusses his views on what makes art, art? Is it the person who has most knowledge in the field such as art critics or can anything be classed as good art- such as a child's painting? I personally feel that the professionals know best but I feel that taste as well plays a big part in this too. Pierre Bourdieu isn't interested in the aesthetics of the visual world but more interested in the social dimension. Growing up I made friends with people who are quite similar to me, without really thinking about it or meaning to. I feel that you are more interested in people who are similar to you because someone say who was dressed in outrageous clothing I would feel that I couldn't relate to them at all but other people may feel that they could relate to them. It's amazing how you go through life and don't think about what influences you especially when it's to do with your tastes and values.
