Abstract

CORREA CABRERA, José Alfonso. Art as the Great Refusal: the (de)humanization of aesthetics. Valenciana [online]. 2019, vol.12, n.23, pp.191-211. ISSN 2007-2538.  https://doi.org/10.15174/rv.v0i23.413.

Philosophers such as Marcuse have underlined the liberating properties of artistic work. But if we are to think of art as the Great Refusal, we should show what is that that art rejects and with what it seeks to replace it. Regarding these questions, I outline two antagonistic answers. While one seeks, by means of the artistic experience, to reject what is given in the name of a timeless truth, the other also denies what is given, but admits the provisional nature of every truth. Although seemingly subtle, this distinction is substantial. Drawing from a reading of Plato, I show why the first position leaves no room for humanness, and why totalitarian implications arise from it. To characterize the second position, I turn to the aesthetic conception of Octavio Paz and the sculptural proposal of Alexander Calder. Both interpretations allow us to reconcile the dissatisfaction that underlies art with the alterity that characterizes humanness.

Keywords : Great Refusal; Alterity; Equivocity; Totalitarianism; Dehumanization.

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