Contemporary artist Ai Weiwei has achieved international recognition for creating works that merge artistic innovation with social commentary. Through...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
Contemporary artist Ai Weiwei has achieved international recognition for creating works that merge artistic innovation with social commentary. Throughout his career, he has consistently developed projects that push boundaries and provoke discussion. His exhibitions frequently challenge audiences' expectations about how art should be encountered. An art critic has argued that Weiwei intentionally subverts traditional museum presentation standards through his curatorial approaches.
Which choice identifies an assumption that underlies the critic's argument?
Traditional museum presentation standards represent established conventions that artists are aware of and can choose to follow or reject.
Weiwei's artistic innovations are primarily motivated by his desire to create social commentary rather than aesthetic beauty.
Contemporary audiences prefer unconventional exhibition formats over traditional museum display methods.
Museums should adapt their presentation standards to accommodate the evolving practices of contemporary artists.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| 'Contemporary artist Ai Weiwei has achieved international recognition for creating works that merge artistic innovation with social commentary.' |
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| 'Throughout his career, he has consistently developed projects that push boundaries and provoke discussion.' |
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| 'His exhibitions frequently challenge audiences' expectations about how art should be encountered.' |
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| 'An art critic has argued that Weiwei intentionally subverts traditional museum presentation standards through his curatorial approaches.' |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: Ai Weiwei is an internationally recognized artist whose work consistently challenges conventional approaches to art presentation and audience engagement.
Argument Flow: The passage establishes Weiwei as a successful artist known for combining innovation with social commentary, then provides examples of how he pushes boundaries through his projects and exhibitions, and concludes with a critic's specific interpretation that Weiwei deliberately subverts traditional museum presentation methods.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The critic argues that Weiwei 'intentionally subverts traditional museum presentation standards.' For this argument to make sense, what must the critic assume?
- First, traditional museum presentation standards must exist as recognizable conventions
- Second, artists must be aware of these standards
- Third, artists must have the ability to choose whether to follow or reject these standards
- Without these assumptions, the concept of 'intentional subversion' wouldn't be meaningful - you can't deliberately go against something unless you know what it is and have the option to follow it.
Traditional museum presentation standards represent established conventions that artists are aware of and can choose to follow or reject.
- This directly captures the necessary assumption - that traditional standards exist as established conventions that artists know about and can choose to follow or reject.
- Without this assumption, the critic's claim about 'intentional subversion' would be meaningless.
Weiwei's artistic innovations are primarily motivated by his desire to create social commentary rather than aesthetic beauty.
- States that Weiwei's innovations are primarily motivated by social commentary rather than aesthetic beauty.
- This isn't necessary for the critic's argument about subverting presentation standards.
- The critic's argument works regardless of Weiwei's primary motivations.
Contemporary audiences prefer unconventional exhibition formats over traditional museum display methods.
- Claims contemporary audiences prefer unconventional formats over traditional ones.
- The critic's argument about Weiwei's intentional subversion doesn't depend on audience preferences.
Museums should adapt their presentation standards to accommodate the evolving practices of contemporary artists.
- Suggests museums should adapt their standards to accommodate contemporary artists.
- This is a recommendation about what should happen, not an assumption underlying the critic's descriptive argument about what Weiwei does.