The Paradoxical Telos of the Aesthetic

I haven't seen much that has been ruled off-topic here, and i think everyone can agree on the importance of aesthetics.

In a sense, I might agree with Gans, insofar as I think institutional spaces set aside specially for high art are going to continue to lose power, and so the clear separation of high from popular will fade. But this is not something I'm really pessimistic about, because it just means new conditions under which high art can be created will have to emerge. That is, I think high art will be exemplary instances of popular art, on the one hand, and new forms of everyday aesthetics, on the other. But if we look at the fundamental distinction--popular art caters to our desires, takes revenge on those we can see as enemies, etc., while high art exposes the limits of our desires and resentments--I think there will always be people creating the latter.

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His most sustained analysis is in Originary Thinking.