On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 5:01 PM, William Conger <[email protected]>wrote:
> It's ridiculous to insist that because taste in art is subjective it is > also > unique to such an extent that others don't share it. People of a given > locale, > time, culture tend to have much more in common than they themselves might > think. > Advertisers and product managers devote much time and money discovering > how > those individual subjective tastes really represent a large group of > people. > Artists also think about the tastes of their preferred audiences and > conform > their work accordingly --- more than they may admit. > WC > > > Artforms, artists, and works of art need a consensus, i.e., an audience with shared values--values that enhance their recognition, understanding and appreciation of not only the artists' efforts and pains, but also the EXTRA efforts and EXTRA pains he takes to produce his work. Once upon a time, audience members were more like this: - The arts are not just instantaneous pleasure - if you don't like it, the artist is wrong. I belong to the generation which says if you don't like it, you don't understand and you ought to find out. (Ethel Barrymore) Getting back to food, the following from a book about French cuisine may be of interest: - There is another even more important reason why France is the home of such an outstanding cuisine. While great cooking requires superior ingredients and talented cooks for its fulfillment, it also requires an appreciative audience...You need only consider the many gourmet and wine organizations in France devoted to the propagation of fine food and superior wines...With this kind of...jury looking over their shoulders, French chefs, cooks, restauranteurs and maitres d'hotel have long taken their jobs with great...seriousness.
