Can style be measured?

✍ Scribed by Chiu-Shui Chan

• Book ID: 104289219
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 524 KB
• Volume: 21
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0142-694X
• DOI: 10.1016/s0142-694x(99)00011-3

✦ Synopsis

I

n the fine and performing arts, any artistic object or performance has its process of creation which follows certain unique ways and methods of generation. If such methods are repeated over time to reproduce similar forms or actions, a pattern of characteristics emerges and a style is formed. Historically, a style is identified by recognisable features (forms) that appear in certain products created by one person (individual stylee.g. van Gogh style) (see note 1), by a group of persons (group stylee.g. Prairie style) (see note 2), across some geographical areas (regional style), or through a period of time (period style-e.g. Renaissance style) (see note 3). Scholars have used the relationships (syntax) between recognisable forms to establish an orderly hierarchy among persons, groups, regions, or periods to build up structures for the history of any arts 1 . Thus, most studies on style have focused on either identifying significant forms that manifest a style 2 or reviewing their developing background 3 , and further tracing their context and associations as they interacted with other forms 4-6 .