Do Artifacts Have Politics?

Like our own imagination, art can wander off, seeking out the edges, the borderlands, the mysteries. Indeed, this autonomy is art’s power and part of its emotional appeal. But this very ability to separate from everyday material life may also make art impotent in trying to shape the world from which it has escaped. At most it can be a nudge or a su

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The function of art is also clear: Artists propose new ways of doing things and perceiving the world, which if successful, become conventional.