Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Sincerety, real or faux, is not enough

Read an article in Artlies, Vol. 49, on (S)incerety in art ... really, faux sincerety. How much does it matter if the artwork is sincere or intentionally made to look like what loosely and supposedly passes for sincere, like what "sincerety" justifies, or what is in the manner of the "sincere"? If it's bad, it's bad ... regardless of intention. At times, it seems as though we've lost the ability, or at least the willingness, to judge the result of visual effort based on the actual quality of its aesthetic impact. Eliminating aesthetic standards, or expecting no aesthetic response, though does not make art work more assessible; indeed, it seems to put it further out of reach: to reach it, one must be okay with elevating the bad or ineffectual over the powerful and moving.

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