Thanks to conceptual art, everybody is familiar with the artwork as idea. So ingrained is this in today’s conceptual artists that not only do they think that the artwork does not need to be made, they wouldn’t even know how anymore. Nowadays they simply pretend to create.
Kurt Vonnegut claimed that life is not much different than what we all went through in high school. For Aaron Schuster, that statement is reason enough to proclaim the teen movie – with all of its adolescent intrigues, sex, violence and foolishness – the best representation of American society.
Along with Slavoj Žižek, Rasto Mocnik and Alenka Zupančič, the Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and expert in psychoanalysis Mladen Dolar comprise the famous School of Psychoanalysis in Ljubljana. Aaron Schuster spoke with him on the locus and significance of the voice, with reference to his intriguing book A Voice and Nothing More.
The idea that art harbors a curative power is a very old one, hearkening back to Aristotle’s theory of catharsis and ancient shamanic rituals. Since, the tasks of the artist have broadened, though that of healer is still popular. Question is, does art lend itself to such a therapeutic role? Shouldn’t we be saying instead: art isn’t good for you?
