Saul and Michael, Let me suggest to you and to all those really interested in the issue of art versus nonart to read my book ART VERSUS NONART: ART OUT OF MIND, Cambridge University Press, 2003. I dare say that you might find there an infinitely more thorough discussion of the issue you present to this forum.
Tsion Avital email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Holon Institute of Technology. P.O.B 305, Holon 58102. Israel. -----Original Message----- From: Michael Brady [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2008 4:43 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: "An 'aesthetic experience' MAKES the work 'art'" Cheerskep: > Saul, suppose you and I look at a painting. You say, "Now, that's a > work of > art." And I say, "No, that's a work of foopgoom." > > You say to me, "What the hell is 'foopgoom'?" > > I say to you, "What the hell is 'art'?" > > How would either of us go about showing the other was "wrong"? You know, this stuff wasn't invented yesterday. "Art," or pictures, or foopgoom, or whatever it [redacted verb], has been around for a long time, much longer than any of us has been looking at and discussing "it." By now, we have a pretty good idea of what it [redacted verb] we're talking about. The squabbling doesn't arise over the term itself, but over how it's applied and where its coverage ends. If Saul says. "Now, that's a work of art," I doubt you *completely misunderstand* him. I suspect either you disagree--e.g., if it seems he's using the term honorifically to denote exceptional quality of one kind or other that you don't perceive--or you dispute some aspect of how the term fits the object. Frankly, the test isn't whether either of you can "go about showing the other was 'wrong'," but of explaining you own point. > Even more interesting, how would you go about proving to me > (assuming this > would be your position) that there is no such thing as "foopgoom", > it's just > muddled notion in my mind? I suspect after initially being very vexed by your foopgoom gambit, Saul would say, "Hell, what you call 'foopgoom' is the same thing I call 'art.' Now we can at least get past this inane distraction and talk about the serious stuff." | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Michael Brady [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3289 (20080722) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3289 (20080722) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com
