Survey question #1: Olmec art?

Finally our first general survey question here at the blog is up and running! We hope this will be the first of a series of questions intended to spark discourse as well as allow scholars to obtain peer feedback and opinions on their research or topics of interest. Now all we need is your reponse! Please reply in brief or at length:

Olmec art is a tricky topic at best of times, in part because unlike other central themes in Formative studies the term "olmec" continues to be readily applied across the geographic board as a stylistic label, rather than a cultural designation. Moreover, the field has long been dominated by iconographically-based studies, and less inclined to methodological and terminological re-tooling than other areas of Foramtive study. With this is mind, what new questions and issues might be, or should be brought to bear in the study of Formative artistic production? What new directions of inquiry should be taken? What present or previous practices should be redressed? What new goals should be established in the study of Olmec artworks and artistic practices?

Feel free and encouraged to submit your own questions! E-mail Natalia or Jill to have them posted @ foramtivefreaks@gmail.com.