>Could you elaborate upon the tension you see between Bernstein and Adorno, Mr Miller?
Wouldn't Adorno's "emphasis of the non- or anti-discursive character of visual art and music...in connection with its 'bodily' presence" preclude Bernstein's text from giving you "a completely different way of seeing, and a different aesthetic experience."? Wouldn't Bernstein's text be more useful *after* you've had your aesthetic experience, and you're thinking about the broader issues of cultural history? So, I agree with Saul that it's not so much that there is tension between the two, but "Might not these be seen as the complimentary positions : experience and interpretation (self-reflection and analysis)" Unfortunately, I am unable to parse the other paragraph that that Saul sent directly to you - the text seems to have been garbled in transmission. There is, of course, no law against making experience and interpretation a simultaneous activity. Isn't that what an archaeologist does when studying an artifact to see how it will impact specific, historical questions? But it can also be important to ignore all such questions, and just become immersed in whatever sensual world the artifact presents, letting the imagination run free in the garden. And once you've gotten used to doing that, you may find that it will become ever more difficult to accept the kind of sweeping generalizations made by writers like Bernstein. Aesthetically, most artifacts are worthless and boring, and deserve to be generalized and then ignored. But a few of them are quite special -- even if they're only a few lines written by Herrick or drawn by Rembrandt or sung by Roberta Gambarini (a new jazz singer worthy of attention) And the aesthetic power of those few objects is so great and so specific, no generalization can touch them, and history becomes irrelevant.. That's what Adorno was saying (or if he wasn't -- he should have been) ____________________________________________________________ Let great B to B marketing solutions propel your brand to new heights! Click now! http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/fc/BLSrjnxX0BRdHYNh8fp5gYjOlSdUGU rvOQ0F4AKqSkr6EVzJeAzq59Zt37S/
