“Art is rehearsal for those real situations
in which it is vital for our survival
to endure cognitive tension,
to refuse the comforts of validation by affective congruence
when such validation is inappropriate
because too vital interests are at stake”
(Peckham 1965, 314).
Peckham, Morse. 1965. Man’s Rage for Chaos: Biology, Behavior, and the Arts. Philadelphia: Chilton Books.
I am curious to know what would happen if art were suddenly seen for what it is, namely, exact information of how to rearrange one's psyche in order to anticipate the next blow from our own extended faculties?
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964)
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As an immune system for the social body, art at its best innoculates the collective unconscious against future threats by providing safe arenas in which it can face unfamiliar or disorienting situations.
Joline Blais & Jon Ippolito, At The Edge of Art (2006)
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The art object is ... an information ‘trigger’ for mobilizing the information cycle.
Jack Burnham, Real Time Systems (1974)
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...the object ... I consider to be a mental problem rather than a physical reality ... [it] is a product of thought ... objects are about as real as angels are real.
Robert Smithson, Interview (1969)
What's a result? Are a painter's paintings his results? A sculptor's sculptures? A writer's books? A composer's compositions? I don't think of these things as results, but as means - a connection between speaker and listener. For me, the result is the intensity of the response, which is apparent in a change in reactions in everyday situations.
Milan Knížak, To Live Otherwise (1966)
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Art is what makes life more interesting than art.
Robert Filliou
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