本研究旨在於探討「藝術」隨著時代的變遷，從「精緻藝術」到「藝術」到「流行文化」的過程，其主要的動力是「政治的民主」與「科技的發展」。不管是從精緻藝術的定義、藝術的範疇與文化的涵義，我們都可以清楚的看到這種轉變。另外，藝術的各種理論研究，不管是藝術史、藝術批評、美學、創作等也從傳統的作品道向到注重與社會環境的關係。而60年代的文化研究更從政治、經濟、社會、種族、性別等議題，深入探討各種文化的問題，以解決當代社會的種種爭端。在我國剛建立傳統藝術理論的研究，並引道文化研究的各種理論之時，2000年西方國家又開始探討「視覺文化」相關問題了，其重點在於了解視覺影像充斥的當代社會中，消費者在視覺科技介面的影響下，如何求訊息、意義或愉樂。 其次，筆者分析流行文化的特質，並舉「泰德畫廊的磚頭」、「賣淫展」、「生活展」、「完美時刻」、「廣告城」等英國、美、臺灣等文化爭議的個案，來了解新舊觀念的差異所造成的爭議情形。為了避免類似爭議的發生，筆者分析當前藝術教育的問題，並提出思考多元化的培養、流行文化研究的重視、電腦藝術教學的推廣及學生就業問題的妥善規劃等建議，以面對當前的文化衝擊。 藝術從精緻藝術到藝術，到流行文化是時勢所趨，我們必須審慎的面對這個變局，從創作、研究、生活、教育等各個層面儘速因應這個挑戰，從藝術的基礎研究著手，到文化研究、視覺文化研究等，全面建立及提昇國內文化理論研究的根基，迎頭趕上先進國家。

The main purpose of this research is to study the changes from traditional fine arts, arts, to popular culture. The main forces of the changes are the democratization of politics and the evolution of technology. These changes can be found form the definition, content, and meaning of fine arts and popular culture. Besides, the studies in fine arts, such as art history, art criticism, aesthetics and art creation, also change the themes of research from the art works to their social context. In 1966s, the western countries have established several theories of culture studies to solve various confrontations from political, economic, social, ethnic, gender perspectives. Now, researchers in Taiwan try hard to establish the foundations of fine art theories, and to introduce the new theory of cultural studies. However, the western countries have begun to explore the new issues about visual cultures, whose purposes are to understand how people pursue information, meaning, or pleasure under the influence of visual technology in a society flooded by visual images. Furthermore, the author tries to analyze the characteristics of popular culture and give controversial examples, such as the Tate Gallery Bricks, Prostitution Exhibition, Life Exhibition, Perfect Moment, Advertisement form Britain, the United States and Taiwan. The author also proposes several educational problems and suggestions for art educators, including promoting divergent thinking, dealing with the issues of popular culture, promoting computer graphics education, and making plans for students’ career development. The movement from traditional fine arts to popular culture is an unavoidable trend. We need to face the challenges carefully and work hard to establish and enhance the domestic foundations of fine art theories, cultural research, and popular culture.