The Case Against Objectifying Art
The objectification of art by art historians, critics, and psychologists is dissatisfying when it comes to explaining art and the aesthetic experience. This article presents the views of artists, critics, and philosophers who have countered the objectification of art by suggesting that art is not a quantifiable thing but rather is an experience formed in the encounter between a catalytic material entity and the receptive spectator. The theories of Nietzsche, Heidegger, Gadamer, and Derrida are analyzed along with various views of artists from Duchamp to Beuys and of critics including Gottner-Abendroth and McEvilley. By shifting their focus away from art objects and artists and toward the role of the spectator in art making, these theorists have opened new vistas onto the aesthetic experience that may inspire new research in art.