In our post post modern culture, the definitions of what can be deemed “art” have become more and more flexible. Where gradually wider creative phenomena like fashion, design and architecture have approached and entered the arena of accepted art, art’s essence (instigating magical change through aestheticised personal expression, thereby enhancing the experience of life) has become more and more pushed away by superficialities and mass market adaptation – no doubt reflecting the overall contemporary culture as a whole. This constitutes a problem, and not only on the level of terminology. The problem consists of a demoting of an essential sphere or phenomenon into a commodified area that mainly uses the rational mind to evaluate even aesthetic or emotional spheres. To use an example closer to the core question: art is art, but the art world is not art. The rational handling of and trading with something stemming from the soul doesn’t make the actual handling or trading...
