Neurologist Stephen Pinker (The Blank Slate) is a fan of Denis Dutton and quotes Dutton's list of art traits or conditions and then foolishly discredits his own considerable insights by ranting against modernism-postmodernism thus exposing himself as a Luddite. Pinker claims that we are hard wired to prefer the sorts of things or experiences that Dutton says are exemplified in art. But what neither Pinker nor Dutton seem to realize is that the term "art" is a free agent as it were (see Wittgenstein, Weitz, etc). The hard-wried preferences noted by Pinker and the universal traits or characteristics listed by Dutton may be true -- that is, not purely cultural habits -- but it is not necessary that they be linked to art. Just as different sorts of people become artists in different eras so are different sorts of activities and objects called art in different times. Without changing or challenging a single word in either Pinker or Dutton, we may simply turn to different mental predispositions and different object/activities and name them art. Art was "homeless" until the late Middle Ages -- there were beautiful things for religious and political purposes but they weren't called art -- and this tendency toward homelessness is also a trait overlooked by Pinker and Dutton. Every once in a while "art" leaves home, family, job, and strikes out as a sort of tramp, seeking a new life and abode. Preferences remain at home; art runs away. I don't know why. It's human nature to explore the what isn't preferred. Maybe it's a kind of neurological imperialism, suggesting that nothing is beyond our capacity to normalize. The hard wired theory fails in just this notion because we can keep tinkering with the wires, ringing new bells, lighting dark corners, turning the spotlight elsewhere.
wc ----- Original Message ---- From: Michael Brady <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, November 24, 2009 4:11:41 PM Subject: Re: Reading Dutton: Chapter 10 - Four Characteristics of Great Art On Nov 24, 2009, at 5:10 PM, William Conger wrote: > See today's www.artnet.com/magazine for Ben Davis on Dutton. Good slam-dunk. Bad link, William. Is this the article: http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/davis/in-defense-of-concepts11-24-09 .asp
