hi i’m new to adorno and would appreciate some help! so i’ve decided to write about hopeful art for my essay. what i understand (with limited knowledge) is that this kind of art is liberating and truthful because it is not created to please nor manipulate the mass. what i want to know is if it loses its function (of enlightening) once it’s institutionalised, and does the fact that it is kept in museums or galleries diminish its impact or meaning? i wonder if adorno wrote about this and if not, what you think he would have said. if you can kindly signpost me to any authors/theories i’ll be really grateful!

I know Carl Jung isn’t a frequent authority in art criticism and is not without controversy when attempting to do so (his essay on Picasso, for example). However, I recall the segment of his book Man and His Symbols on modern art where his acolyte Aniela Jaffé acknowledges the unconscious as the potent source of art but criticizes certain elements of the surrealist movement (especially automatic writing, Dadaist poetry and exercises in randomness) which are essentially pure expressions of the unconscious mind without conscious organization. I believe her idea was that art creation requires the unconscious mind for potent ideas but also the counterbalancing conscious mind to organize them into a pattern or else you just have incomprehensible randomness.

I’m not sure I 100% agree with this but it caught my attention. Any ideas or thoughts on this?

Can I get some help in finding books which explore the history of how art is made. More along the lines of artist that had teams of people working for them over history and how that has changed. I’ve read Dark Matter, which was good, but looking for others which look critically at the labor arrangements towards the production of art. Thanks

I am currently in school to become a Landscape Architect, and in a lot of my readings, as well as conversations with designers, I’ve heard references to the art education at BMC and how many prolific artists had gone through that program. There is like a family tree of artists who had studied there and became very well known. For many, that experience was an integral and formative point in their careers. Understanding its relationship to Bauhaus helps to contextualize the importance and lasting legacy of the program.

Do you feel like there is anything/anywhere like Black Mountain College today? Was this purely a product of its time?

Part of me believes the faculty/students were, yes, very talented, but more importantly, ahead of their time. So, the philosophies and ideologies taught there are now folded into most art education. They were simply the catalyst for change/the inception of some contemporary thought.

Shouldn’t there be someplace/someone who is pushing us forward in the art world today? I believe this is hard to see without retrospection, but I’m curious if anyone has thoughts on this…

Also I would love to hear any thoughts on BMC and its importance/influence and other artists who have sprung from there, as I am starting to grow my knowledge on this.

I’m just starting to explore art from a disability perspective, and would appreciate any recommendations for texts in this area that would be considered key or “foundational”.

Thank you in advance!

The question of the extent to which art is morally contaminated by an artist's immoral character, attitude or criminal lifestyle can be answered unequivocally: it is not! But precisely this unambiguity is highly problematic. A definitive answer: Künstler, Kunst, Rezipient – Verstand und Gefühl im Widerstreit (Article in German)

does anybody know where i could buy encyclopedias/textbooks with dope cool artworks and graphics? as long as the illustrations on it are well done and great, i don't mind their subject, but if the encyclopedia is about aesthetics, that's even better

Would love to hear thoughts/feedback on it, check it out if you want to! https://atmidnightalltheagents.substack.com/p/lessons-from-the-subterranes?r=2eypst