This project considers the role of new creative practices from an institutional theory of art perspective. Primarily the focus of the project has been on forms of creative practices that have recently gained art status. The case of graffiti as street art is once such instance. Here the work is reframed as legitimate art as opposed to vandalism. By incorporating such changes in status to our account of the art world, this research intends to demonstrate that the institutional perspective permits a certain degree of flexibility in both theory and practice. An implication thus being that changes in what count as art entail changes is what an art institution can be.
The primary practical application of this research is the way in which it informs contemporary institutional practice. For example, by overcoming received conceptions of how art ought to be exhibited or installed, the art curator is both better able to respond to changes in art practice and account for hitherto overlooked art forms.
