Aesthetics

The ‘popular’ is often considered too ‘stimulating,’ too vulgar, or too quotidian to be capable of promoting ‘aesthetic distance’ or a manner of perception that is complicated and not functional and/or rapidly consumable. This conception is concerned with, and applies to, not just shocking and offensive artifacts but also all (in other ways) entertaining novels, films, performances, and so on. ‘Entertainment,’ then, means ‘agreeable stimulation’ on the part of the artifact and ‘enjoyment’ on the part of the recipient. Should a variety of aesthetics proceed on from the determination of a specifically ‘aesthetic, distanced attitude’ to the formulation of art’s characteristics, then it would be of great importance for the discussion of the ‘popular’ and often also for popular artifacts.