Like practitioners of the Baroque,
we too are irrepressible creators of images,
but secretly we are iconoclasts -not in the sense that we destroy images,
but in the sense that we manufacture a profusion of images
in which there is nothing to see.
Present-day images – be they video images, paintings,
products of the plastic arts, or audiovisual or synthesized images –
— are literally images in which there is nothing to see.

They leave no trace, cast no shadow, and have no consequences.
The only feeling one gets from such images is that behind each one
there is something that has disappeared.
…These are images that conceal nothing, that reveal nothing
— that have a kind of negative intensity.
The only benefit of a Campbell’s Soup can by Andy Warhol
(and it is an immense benefit) is that it releases us from the need
to decide between beautiful and ugly, between real and unreal,
between transcendence and immanence.
Just as Byzantine icons made it possible to stop asking whether God existed
without, for all that, ceasing to believe in him.

This is indeed the miraculous thing.
Our images are like icons: they allow us to go on believing in art
while eluding the question of its existence.
So perhaps we ought to treat all present-day art as a set of rituals,
and for ritual use only;
perhaps we ought to consider art
solely from an anthropological standpoint.
without any reference to any aesthetic judgment whatsoever.
The implication is
that we have returned to the cultural stage of primitive societies.
(The speculative fetishism of the art market itself partakes
in the ritual of art’s transparency.)

Excerpt, The Transparency of Evil Essays on Extreme Phenomena,
Transaesthetics by Jean Baudrillard p. 19

---

A lengthy quotation, but worth pausing to consider.  Who has not felt the tsunami of images which can be called up, effortlessly on the screen, or the rising tide of video advertising occupying chunks of visual space, interrupting the flow of whatever story line one is attempting to follow on television…  No question but the storm surge of images continues to rise.  The essay by Baudrillard was published in France in 1990.  The effect of super abundance is inflation.  Whether of a currency, or of art, what is common is worth little if anything. 

So why the meteoric rise of the art market, or of the stock market, or of the real estate market, or the hysteria in politics?

Fetishism.  We go on believing, without needing to ask whether the object of our belief is tethered in any way to reality.

Mindless belief.

---

A tune to hold onto!  This may be one of Guns N’ Roses greatest songs: November Rain.

November Rain

By Guns N’ Roses

When I look into your eyes
I can see a love restrained
But, darlin’, when I hold you
Don’t you know I feel the same? Yeah

‘Cause nothing lasts forever
And we both know hearts can change
And it’s hard to hold a candle
In the cold November rain

We’ve been through this such a long, long time
Just tryna kill the pain, ooh yeah
But lovers always come and lovers always go
And no one’s really sure who’s lettin’ go today, walkin’ away
If we could take the time to lay it on the line
I could rest my head, just knowin’ that you were mine, all mine

So, if you want to love me
Then, darlin’, don’t refrain
Or I’ll just end up walkin’
In the cold November rain

Do you need some time on your own?
Do you need some time all alone?
Ooh, everybody needs some time on their own
Ooh, don’t you know you need some time all alone?

I know it’s hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you
But if you could heal a broken heart
Wouldn’t time be out to charm you, whoa-whoa

Sometimes, I need some time on my own
Sometimes, I need some time all alone
Ooh, everybody needs some time on their own
Ooh, don’t you know you need some time all alone?

And when your fears subside
And shadows still remain, ooh yeah
I know that you can love me
When there’s no one left to blame

So, never mind the darkness
We still can find a way
‘Cause nothin’ lasts forever
Even cold November rain

Don’t ya think that you need somebody?
Don’t ya think that you need someone?
Everybody needs somebody
You’re not the only one, you’re not the only one
Don’t ya think that you need somebody?
Don’t ya think that you need someone?
Everybody needs somebody
You’re not the only one, you’re not the only one
Don’t ya think that you need somebody?
Don’t ya think that you need someone?
Everybody needs somebody
You’re not the only one, you’re not the only one
Don’t ya think that you need somebody?
Don’t ya think that you need someone?
Everybody needs somebody