Challenging Conventions in Art

Abstract

The first chapter in Howard S. Becker’s book entitled Art Worlds (1982) covers conventions in an epistemological way. He then applies them to the arts more specifically. His application is extensively thorough and it covers more than one art form. I will take his application further by bringing in the argument highlighted by Plato in his Cratylus dialogue that shows how naturalism and conventionalism are in direct conflict in language. In talking about this debate between naturalism and conventionalism, I will critically analyse the documentary film, Ballet 422 (2014) directed by Jody Lee Lipes. I will briefly go over Cratylus’s argument in the Plato dialogue and explain how it applies to the conventions that apply in the arts. I will then discuss Ballet 422, its cinematography and how it depicts the hermetic nature of dance companies such as New York City Ballet. In this essay I will critique and analyse conventions in a way that Becker did of Art Worlds instead using Ballet 422 as my subject.

The Naturalism/ Conventionalism debate

I will extrapolate the argument that Plato wrote about in the dialogue of Cratylus in order to discuss the chapter that Becker wrote in the book Art Worlds about conventions in art. The interlocutors in the dialogue that took opposite stances of the argument were Cratylus who, to a limited extent, argued for naturalism in language, Hermogenes argued that conventionalism is the way that language is formed and Socrates mediated the argument.[1] Cratylus states that names come about because of how the thing that is being names is in nature. The argument that Cratylus put forward was not fully formulated in the dialogue. However, in art, as well as in language, I will argue that language and conventions come about from naturalism and the two terms should not be in opposition. This is mainly because conventionalisms come about because of organic naturalisms. In dance especially the movement of the body is always natural and the convention of a genre of dance, such as ballet is simply an evolution of the natural movement of the body to a point that it has been agreed that certain types of movement count as ballet. The issue is that there are so many ways of expressing something in dance and in language, therefore how is it that conventions dictate certain ways of dancing or speaking. In Ballet 422, there is a clear convention that choreographer Justin Peck, a dancer of the dance company New York City Ballet, is finding his feet within which is why it is so interesting to look at the conventionalism/ naturalism debate within the context of this film. In Ballet 422 Justin Peck (and all of the dancers in the company) were aware of and adhering to the established convention of a world-renowned ballet company. From the language that was spoken amongst the dancers to the way that choreography is taught and practiced to the costumes and their design; all these are established conventions that do not necessarily happen organically hence why it is interesting to watch Peck try to organically navigate his way in his role of choreographer and director of his ballet for the first time at such a young age.

Conventions mimicking nature

In Becker’s chapter on Conventions, he uses language as an example of how to express the difference between convention and naturalism, much like in Plato’s Cratylus, whereby onomatopoeic words come about because of their similarity to nature.[2] Just as in dance even within convention certain movements are choreographed mimetically in order to tell a story or incite feelings in the audience. Things that tend to be represented in this was in dance are the relations and movements between people physically and romantically. We see this in Ballet 422 when the lead duet relates with each other both in practice of the choreography and in the dance itself. They have a relationship and that is shown by the closeness they have: they are so close to each-other that they kiss on the lips although they are not in a relationship. So despite being within an institute with conventions, they are acting out naturalisms: human relations and physical movements representing the relationships between man and woman.

Hermetic conventions in dance

Some aspects of Ballet 422 show how naturalism is prevalent even within conventionalism, the hermetic nature and conventions of dance companies such as New York City Ballet must also be discussed. The language used, somewhat contractively of the earlier onomatopoeia argument earlier, shows how ballet as a genre is conventionalised and in turn difficult to penetrate or understand for an outsider. The point of Ballet 422 is to give an insider’s, behind the scenes view of what goes into a production of a ballet (it is not about Justin Peck specifically but it is a fly on the wall view of the New York City Ballet). With hardly any voice over, it was learn by seeing documentary. This shows is that in order for an outsider to understand the conventions of the ballet they must look at the cinematography in one of two ways: they must either ignore the minutiae of language that would only be known to those within the ballet because of the nuanced and foreign names that they have for things, or they would have to grasp the larger picture by focussing on what the cinematography reveals rather than the language spoken by the dancers in New York City Ballet.

If we take away the aspect of language and these conventions surrounding the ballet community, the documentary shows that it can be seen as hermetic in other specific ways. It may not be straightforward to all viewers what is going on in certain scenes because there is often a focus on a fine detail without explanation or links between different aspects of the preparation process. For instance, the scene with Peck dancing on his own in the studio in front of his camera phone. There is no explanation and for someone who is not familiar with a choreography process or dancing in general, it is not clear that in order for a dance to be formulated, the choreographer must move to the music and manifest the visualized movement, hence the use of mirrors in dance rooms. The focus on the camera phone is a nuance that was not explained and is a break from convention and this could have been driven home further with an interview or with a method of explanation.

Ballet 422: breaking conventions

The choice not to have interviews in the documentary is in itself breaking a convention. This adds to the hermetic nature of the ballet which defeats the original intent of the documentary in the first place, which was to give a fly on the wall, revealing and eye opening view into ballet productions. The fact that Peck was creating a new ballet, was so young, was a dancer in the company and a new choreographer were all interesting and anomalous things that the documentary set out to capture. Peck was a good subject for the documentary because he was very much a part of the company as was the producer and camerawoman, Ellen Bar, which meant that the documentary did not come as an intrusion on the process of making the ballet production. It was as if another insider was just in the room listening in on the conversation. This is how the film is able to give the valuable disclosure it does and an insight into ballet conventions.

The fact that a ballet production that is not established was being performed broke conventions and this is the exact reason why Lipes chose such a subject to show an insider view into the ballet. It is looking at convention through the lens of irregularity, which is interesting. In this way it looks at convention by breaking convention and looking at extraordinary cases that break convention. “Following his success at the Company’s choreographic institute, Justin became the only current dancer to choreograph for New York City Ballet. The 25 year old has been commissioned to create the only new ballet in the 2013 Winter Season… Justin has less than two months to create the company’s 422nd new ballet”[3]. The concept around the documentary is the concept of breaking/ creating a new convention.

Does the documentary make ballet more accessible?

There are conventions in ballet, including the genre of the dance itself, that are hermetic and in some ways exclusionary. The documentary gives a positive look into ballet. It is a story of Justin Peck, a young member of the company (an insider), who finds his feet and excels his promising career by succeeding in choreographing and directing a new ballet production. However the conventions of ballet that are not shown in the documentary can be seen as negative. The amount of training that ballet dancers require and the physical capabilities that they must uphold in order to be a member of such a dance company as New York City Ballet means that in order to get into such an Art World is extremely difficult. It would not be possible for a completely different innovator to penetrate the conventions of ballet as Becker talks about in his chapter on conventions: “enormous numbers of people study the arts seriously and semiseriously, taking courses, practicing different disciplines, devoting large amounts of time and other resources, often making substantial sacrifices… Few of them ever become full-time professional artists.”[4] The fact that so few trainee artists can ever actualise the role of an artist is a convention because “no art has sufficient resources to support economically or give sympathetic attention to all or any substantial proportion of those trainees in the way customary in the art worlds for which they are being trained”[5]. In Ballet 422, we see into the specifics of how a company can and does sustain artists. This convention that Becker describes (artists cannot find a role and have job security as an artist) is contested in Ballet 422.

The beginning scenes show the routine of the company and explain Justin Peck’s rank within the company. Peck had been a member of the ballet for over 7 years by the time the film was released and it shows that excellence out trumps convention. Ballet 422 is by nature trying to show the New York City Ballet as a family. Further escalating the excellence of his role of choreographer when he is one of the 50 dancers of the lowest rank in the ballet company, the Corps de Ballet. The documentary actively shows how there are many dancers who are sustained and are needed to put on a production. However, the documentary also makes sure to highlight that Justin Peck is relatively small in the grand scheme of the company. The ending of the documentary shows the end of his choreography and his quick change for the next dance of the multiple choreography dance production. The inclusion of this detail (although not explicitly explained and so not all outsiders of dance would have understood) meant that the convention being broken by Peck was not enough to cause a ripple in the overall production and established conventions: there are often different choreographers in any one dance show.

Another aspect that the documentary shines a light on is the professional side of the arts and more specifically the professional side of New York City Ballet. In Becker’s chapter on conventions he writes: “Artists learn other conventions – professional culture – in the course of training and as they participate in the day-to-day activities of the art world. Only people who participate regularly in those activities, practicing professionals (however the particular world circumscribes that group), know that culture.”[6] The film is a visual manifestation of this observation by Becker. Although Peck is a dancer he is becoming immersed in and exposed to the professional side of the ballet. In other words he is learning by doing. It is clear that dancers are not normally involved in this side of the production. Through Peck’s learning, exposure, tentative leadership and his being guided by more experienced professionals, the audience of the film gain a valuable insight and access to behind the scenes of the New York City Ballet. In the capturing of Peck finding his feet and being aware of his vulnerability in the professional side of a production of ballet, the audience becomes aware of what it takes to orchestrate a ballet. From the lighting to the meticulousness of the dying of costumes to the pressure that is put on the choreographer, Ballet 422 gives valuable insight and accessibility into ballet production.

Conclusion

I have discussed Ballet 422 from the aspect of different observations of Becker from his chapter on conventions. In conclusion, it is the similarities to language that show that in physical expression also, there are conventions that are in place because a group has implemented them over a long period of time and they can be hard for outsiders to penetrate, understand or participate in. However, Ballet 422 sets out to shine a light on the bringing down of certain conventions, or at least lifting the hermetic cover that is often seen as making ballet exclusionary and difficult to access. The documentary shows without interruption the production and preparation of a real ballet without any disruption from the organic or at least conventionalist procedure that goes into choreography, production, direction, practice and performance. It is a valuable aspect and insider access into some of the conventions that Becker was observing in his chapter on conventionalism in the arts.

At the beginning of this paper, I briefly spoke about naturalism as being set up in opposition to conventionalism from the dialogue, Cratylus, of Plato. In conclusion from the discussion of the paper we can see that the two concepts cannot in practice be mutually exclusive. Justin Peck is aware of the conventions of ballet production, having been a member of the company for so long. Yet he has never directed such a large production with New York City Ballet and he is at the helm and working with so many others who are more experienced than he is, so he is prone to veer on the side of naturalism because his limited experience would limit him to go from natural whims rather than heavily calculated and experience leadership decisions.

[1] Sedley, David. "Plato's Cratylus." Stanford University. Stanford University, 4 Oct. 2006. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.

[2] Becker, Howard Saul. Art Worlds. Berkeley: U of California, 1982. 44-45. Print.

[3] Lipes, J. (Director). (2014). Ballet 422 [Motion picture].

[4] Becker, H. (1982). Art worlds (p52). Berkeley: University of California Press.

[5] Ibid. (p52)

[6] Ibid. (p59)