David Salle: belief

Transcript context

…We can, yeah. — the Wittgenstein dictum that for the meaning of something, consider its use. I think things can have — things, meaning art objects, art things — can have short-term use. They can have long-term use. They can have use that comes and goes, comes in and out of focus. They can be put to different uses in different times. All of that seems natural and fine to me, and I’m not sure that there’s one long-term test which all great works of art would pass, or that something is so durable that it doesn’t change. And again, test of time according to whom? Who’s judging? Who’s the judge? But say, Angelica Kauffman, who was much heralded in her lifetime in the 18th century, is now considered a good painter but somewhat of a curiosity — important for her role in getting women into the arts, but not a great painter anymore. That would be one example. Should our default assumption be to trust these judgments of history?…

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