William writes: > I can't imagine a case where some artwork, presumably bad, has never > appealed to anyone anywhere anytime. Ditto for so called good art. The case can't > be tested in either the good or bad sense except via statistical > probablilities -- which can't measure subjective responses with equal parameters or > controls. > > So we are left with the problem that neither good art nor bad art can be > determined by a measure of its appeal, and is so also partly because of > Cheerskep's reminder that art has no intrinsic "isness" identity anyway. > > However, I stand by the guess based on experience that good art always > appeals to anyone in some way, however trivially or profoundly, but I'll add that > cultural patterns probably need to be assumed. But I don't want to say with > equal faith that bad art does not appeal to everyone in some way because that > would also be a valid statement of good art. AH...why are we looking at this > paradoxical issue when we know very well that a universal definition of art > is impossible? > WC >
I'm feeling a bit like Chris in observing how many things you've been saying lately I agree with. Of course, there are things you've put forth that I don't agree with, but I can pass over those the pursuing of which strikes me as counter-productive. Meantime, that's another good mini-essay from you about copyright, patents, trade marks. (If anybody is interested in crushingly more they can Google all three.) Just to show I haven't gone all mellow in my mature years, I claim your postings reveal that you too believe that some works ARE art, and others absolutely ARE NOT. This belief, in you and many others, is not precluded by an awareness of the impossibility of a valid universal "definition of art". And, indeed, I agree that you shouldn't accept that as a preclusion. The impossibility of such a definition is not a proof that there ain't no such thing; it's a RESULT of there being no such thing. ************** You're invited to Hollywood's biggest party: Get Oscars updates, red carpet pics and more at Moviefone. (http://movies.aol.com/oscars-academy-awards?ncid=emlcntusmovi00000001)
