Art and Emotion. The Aesthetic of Feelings

For a long time, when analytically detached responses to art held sway, strategies designed to generate emotionality were considered undesirable. They were seen either as power techniques that seized control of the viewer or as the hallmark of sentimental trash. Even in the context of postmodern aesthetics, manifestations of a directly affective appeal were hard pressed to withstand the privileged status of ironic detachment. For some years, however, there has been growing interest in affective mechanisms. In the art of the 21st century, feelings have been targeted not only by installations or projects requiring audience participation, but also by works in the “classical” visual media, such as painting and photography.