Re: <nettime> Wikileaks is old hat

[Michael H Goldhaber <mgoldh@well.com>]

I judge art by its effects on me as a viewer, not on the basis of what a critic (or theorist) says, 
though of course I am indirectly and unavoidably affected by the latter. Despite being privileged 
to see much first rate art repeatedly over many years, I simply never "got" Pollock, until one day, 
passing for the hundredth time the single very large work of his that hung in the old permanent 
collection in NY MOMA, I suddenly was utterly enthralled by it. In a couple of decades since, that 
feeling hasn't weakened.

Is it socially relevant? Yes, in the sense that it advances and enlarges feelings of human capability, 
perhaps in line with what Marcuse offered in "The Aesthetic Dimension." That's assuming one must have 
theory to back up one's direct reactions. Naturally, I doubt anyone who hasn't had an experience such 
as mine will be converted. Tant pis!

Best,
Michael





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