Verbatim quote · defining passage

“Aesthetics is located on the originary scene, in the oscillation of the attention of the participants between the sign put forth by the other and the object. The desire for the object is magnified when the participant’s attention is directed toward it by the gesture of the other; the object then attended to directly is stripped of that desirability, which then has the participant return attention to the sign.”

— Adam Katz, The Aesthetics of the Center · 2020 · Anthropomorphics