In an interview in 1991 (I will share the relevant excerpt translated/transcribed in this post), the Greek-French philosopher Cornelius Castoriadis pointed out a sobering fact: We live in an era characterized by the collapse of criteria and the prostitution of art.
That is to say, Castoriadis argued, we live in an era with no criteria by which to gauge art. As a result, art prostitutes itself and loses its true meaning. It becomes industrialized.
There are two important elements in this very short excerpt I will discuss in this post:
- Castoriadis naturally spoke before the internet and – especially – social media. I wonder what he would think about them.
- Importantly, Castoriadis argues that art should create its own criteria.
If art should create its own criteria, and we observe a collapse of criteria today, what does that tell us?
