> It's like this -- without funding or support, poetry, dance, drama,
> painting continue because there is something compelling(and addictive)
> about creating art. Without the academic institution of criticism, 99%
> of this kind of writing would disappear.
Well, there's a difference between US academia (which is in horrible, horrible shape right now) and criticism. There's still that 1% of all critical academic writing which has crucial, indispensable insights, making the hassle of wading through the remaining 99% worth it.
> but mostly the art would speak for itself and
> future artists will learn as all artists learn: through observation,
> practice, and passionate love.
Radical aesthetics and radical interpretation need each other. The former speaks what the latter cannot, but the latter accesses what the former cannot, i.e. the history bound up in the former.
What's scary is that US academia has increasingly few spaces for either option. Now that the Empire is beginning to disintegrate, it will only get worse.
-- DRR