'An aphorism, properly stamped and molded, has not been "deciphered" when it has simply been read; rather one has then to begin its interpretation, for which is required an art of interpretation.' -- Nietzsche, 'On the Genealogy of Morals'
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'An aphorism, properly stamped and molded, has not been "deciphered" when it has simply been read; rather one has then to begin its interpretation, for which is required an art of interpretation.' -- Nietzsche, 'On the Genealogy of Morals'
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from originality to repetition
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December 14, 2009
Umberto Eco in his essay Innovation & repetition: between modern & postmodern aesthetics argues that:
The modern criterion for recognizing the artistic value wasnovelty, high information. The pleasurable repetition of an already known pattern was considered, by modern theories of art, typical of Crafts–not of Art–andof industry. A good craftsman, as well as an industrialactory, produces many tokens, or occurrences, of the same type or model.One appreciates the type, and appreciates the way the token meets the requirements of the type: but the modern aesthetics did not recognize such a procedure as an artistic one. That is why the Romantic aesthetics made such a careful distinction between “major” and “minor” arts, between arts and crafts.
This is the reason why modern aesthetics was so severe apropos the industrial-like products of the mass media. A popular song, a tv commercial, a comic strip, a detective novel, a Western movie were seen as more or less successful tokens of a given model or type. As such they were judged as pleasurable but nonartistic.
Furthermore, this excess of pleasurability, repetition, lack of innovation, was felt as a commercial trick (the product had to meet the expectations of its audience)...The products of mass mediawere equated with the products of industry insofar as they were produced in series, and the “serial” production was considered as alien to the artistic invention.
According to modernist aesthetics,the principal features of the mass-media products were repetition, iteration,
obedience to a pre-established schema, and redundancy (as opposed to information). Postmodern aesthetics,
which is revisiting the very concepts of repetition and iteration under a different profile.
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| | Posted by Gary Sauer-Thompson at 10:07 PM | Permalink |
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