Aphorism #35
A painting isn’t bad just because it looks good over the couch.
We think it is demeaning and vulgar to treat art as decoration, and we go to great lengths to justify the art we like as “more than” decoration.
But good art is not more than decoration. It is simply good art which also may be decorative.
It is much more demeaning and vulgar to insist that the art we like is “disturbing” and “challenging” in an effort to demonstrate that we are somehow above common enjoyment and pleasure.
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