>{...}Our society does not reward on the basis of merit alone, but on a system of popular opinion.{...}
Not nec. Fine art doesn't work that way. Kis is both a "native" or "popular" art-form & also a microcosm of a more serious type of art. What you say in full about it in terms of being a popular art-form is mostly correct. However it also works the other way where a small % of people have highly developed taste & the best work is made either by or for them. The public gets around to it later (sometimes much later). I've told RC that he can shoot for either the praise of the cogniscenti or the praise of the masses, it's almost impossible to do both at once (Dov may be the only one who can work that trick consistently).
RC wasn't just talking about "popularity" & "conformity", he was also discussing "quality" & "imagination". So my point is that the Doll World here is not just a mirror of pop society but of art society too, different laws & standards apply to each aspect & it would be great if one didn't have to choose between them yet usually that's exactly what happens.
Posted on Jan 30, 2002, 11:55 PM from IP address 4.3.93.57