The Work of Art

The modern idea of art has been in place for about two centuries. It has concurred with two other features of modernity: that of developed capitalist economy, and that of the new democratic public sphere. This article explores some of the relationships between art, capitalism and democracy. It argue...

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Main Author: Frederik Tygstrup
Format: Article
Language:Danish
Published: Aalborg University Open Publishing 2017-12-01
Series:Akademisk Kvarter
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/ak/article/view/2613
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author Frederik Tygstrup
author_facet Frederik Tygstrup
author_sort Frederik Tygstrup
collection DOAJ
description The modern idea of art has been in place for about two centuries. It has concurred with two other features of modernity: that of developed capitalist economy, and that of the new democratic public sphere. This article explores some of the relationships between art, capitalism and democracy. It argues that the notion of art heralded by modern aesthetic theories mainly hinges on the epistemic form of the commodity, highlighting the interaction between a producer, a product and a consumer. A different theorizing of the work of art could, however, depart not from the market place of commodities, but from the public forum for democratic deliberation. This alternative foundation of aesthetics is delineated on the basis of the anthropological idea of the ritual and its instantiation in contemporary theories of performativity, where the work of art is seen as an affordance for social encounters as well as for individual contemplation.
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spelling doaj.art-278501fecbd046e381e5af03948134b42024-04-02T11:34:05ZdanAalborg University Open PublishingAkademisk Kvarter1904-00082017-12-011610.5278/ojs.ak.v0i16.2613The Work of ArtFrederik TygstrupThe modern idea of art has been in place for about two centuries. It has concurred with two other features of modernity: that of developed capitalist economy, and that of the new democratic public sphere. This article explores some of the relationships between art, capitalism and democracy. It argues that the notion of art heralded by modern aesthetic theories mainly hinges on the epistemic form of the commodity, highlighting the interaction between a producer, a product and a consumer. A different theorizing of the work of art could, however, depart not from the market place of commodities, but from the public forum for democratic deliberation. This alternative foundation of aesthetics is delineated on the basis of the anthropological idea of the ritual and its instantiation in contemporary theories of performativity, where the work of art is seen as an affordance for social encounters as well as for individual contemplation. https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/ak/article/view/2613aesthetics, performativity, ritual, infrastructure, democracy
spellingShingle Frederik Tygstrup
The Work of Art
Akademisk Kvarter
aesthetics, performativity, ritual, infrastructure, democracy
title The Work of Art
title_full The Work of Art
title_fullStr The Work of Art
title_full_unstemmed The Work of Art
title_short The Work of Art
title_sort work of art
topic aesthetics, performativity, ritual, infrastructure, democracy
url https://journals.aau.dk/index.php/ak/article/view/2613
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