How is art a reflection of society?

Answer 1

Some have said that "art" is short for "artifact." I would argue that any object carries the DNA of its culture/its time. The materials used in the creation of a piece of art reveals the resources of the time. Certain hand-ground pigments were mixed with binders that were abundant in the region in pre-renaissance painting. Now, many are using Photoshop on iBooks to create pieces. Without even touching on the aspect of content, we could discover volumes about the difference in the cultures that produced Bosch's "Garden of Earthly Delights" and the recent interactive video for Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone."

On the subject of content, not only do we see what topics are popularly depicted, but how. What is the slant, the bias? How has the the depiction of religious piety changed through the discovery of Germ Theory, The Industrial Revolution, The Sexual Revolution (radically recontextualizing human breeding and reproduction)? The emerging and evolving mythology of the Individual... This both springs from and reflect its time, as directly as a child does spring from and reflect the characteristics of its parents.

Answer 2

In every way possible. In a repressive society, like China, the arts are limited by laws and this is a reflection of that society. In a free society, like the US, the arts reflect that freedom. The content of the arts, films, music, dance and so on, is a reflection of the society. For example, if the society is violent, the content of the arts from that society are likely to be violent. The opposite is sometimes true too, and this reflects a countercultural movement in the arts.