MANIFEST ARTE UTILE IV
AVANTGARDEUTILE
In the past, art had a goal - to invoke certain feelings in the viewer.
In the past, art had a purpose - to express something to the public,
that is, to reach the individual.
Art in the past was an art of individuals for individuals.
AVANTGARDE UTILE, on the contrary, is intended to help give the average
man a clear grasp of his real problems in life.
AU reveals these as being essentially based on contradictions and thus
contributes to their solution.
AU is concerned with the reality of here and now, for it is this reality
which poses the problems which affect us all.
AU is not limited solely to the precincts of the universities and academies,
where the same, small clique of intellectuals constantly embalms the
whole with their verbiage.
AU is additionally and especially effective outside the museums, galleries
and theatres which as we have long known - are monopolized by a select
portion of society. Society in this form is outdated and on the brink
of obsoletion.
AU will then only exist of the people and for the people in public
places, in shopping centres, and as street theatre.
AU has little regard for the art of the past as an art of the unique.
We know that art in this form has outlived its usefulness for modern
society.
AU has no intrinsic worth. The value of AU lies in its special form
of contribution to a new society. AU will seek out and develop new and
dynamic forms.
For the Utilist this means a continual process of disengagement from
outdated modes of thought and action. The struggle for material existence
is conjoined with the struggle for new conditions of social existence.
And in this struggle the Utilist joins in organized cooperation with
all those striving for social progress.
An AU work of art retains its significance for society only as long
as the latter recognizes it as one of its own problems. Once society
has reached a solution to that problem, the AU work of art has forfeited
its right to exist. It remains as a document.
The AU work of art is also for sale. When it becomes an object of speculation,
however, it loses its "Utile" value entirely, in other words,
it is reduced to a commercial product like any other.
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