Can Works by Amateurs Be Art?

Because art has long since emancipated itself from any laws—historically, from the classical laws of the fine arts—there are potentially many more artworks existing in the world; there is now room for work without a perfect or near-perfect form that fulfills a set of principles demanding technical mastery (which may be more or less difficult to achieve). This turn against ‘academicism’ argues that art, especially good art, is actually not made through a long course of study in which one learns the representational techniques required for producing a work that successfully follows a set of artistic rules. Thus, one does not need years of training to make art. This chapter examines the possibilities this view might offer for a revaluation of the popular.