On Jun 2, 2008, at 11:42 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Truth: I've never, in contemplating a Pollock creation, come close to an a.e.. Has anyone else on this forum?
Does it matter? "Is" a Pollock painting a work of art or not (rein in your inner ontologist, CSKP, s'il vous plait)?
Does it matter whether a WoA provokes an A.E.? What if it doesn't? Or at least, what if the A.E. is a minor temblor that doesn't break through into your awareness? Or it's a 3.0 shake, just a small frisson of piquancy, not really an all-engulfing A.E.?
Can there be a work that doesn't move you to the threshold of an A.E., or beyond, but is one you acknowledge possesses the characteristics of a "good" and "serious" play of quality. Innudderwords, can you perceive a WoA of whatever ilk, not get the rush of an aesthetic experience, and still agree that the WoA exhibits "arthood" (or however you want to put it--I think you know what I'm thinking of here)? You know: "Great work. Doesn't do anything for me."
Why do artists make works that are less that spectacular, less that rapturous, less than great? Why do singers or composers make songs that are unstirring, yet clearly competent? Why do painters make pictures that are not breath-taking or captivating? Why do sculptors make structures that are inert, labored, prosaic? And why do they make so many of them? Are they just exhausting the continuum, riding across the full range of exempla? Or do they make these less achieving works because they like the making of them, the singing, the painting, the poetizing, the writing and sculpting and dancing of nondescript efforts?
Imparting an a.e. is not crucial to a work of art. It is not the purpose of a WoA, nor is it the sine qua non or necessary and sufficient quality or any other essential of a WoA. We know this because (1) other things provoke A.E.s (sunsets, beautiful landscapes, beautiful humans, etc.); and (2) acknowledged WoA fail to stimulate an aesthetic experience in some viewers, known to be receptive to them.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Michael Brady [EMAIL PROTECTED]
