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September 25, 2007
the sublime
It almost seems odd to talk about the sublime today. We are programmed now to expect awe in certain circumstances, and are therefore doomed to be disappointed when, inevitably, we don’t feel it. It is the disappointment that many tourists experience when they go to see the Mona Lisa, a sublime painting, encased behind protective glass. This is because when nothing is truly strange or foreign any longer, everything having been predigested, we then demand to be shocked, shock being an experience that still seems genuine to us. Thus we mistake shock for awe.
Michael Kimmelman - The Accidental Masterpiece
Posted by amin at September 25, 2007 12:01 PM