The Liturgy of the Multitude: Art in the Age of AI
The traditional sanctuary of the "original" has collapsed, not by a single iconoclastic blow, but through the relentless liquidation of the aura. That unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be—the singular existence of the artwork in the time and space of its creation—has been ellided. In its place, we find the dawn of a new social democracy of art, where the authority of the "masterpiece" is liquidated in favor of a new currency, a radical accessibility. All art becomes performative and social.
The Liquidation of the Aura
Once, the artwork derived its value from its presence in a ritual. Whether it was the cult of the ancestral spirit or the secular cult of beauty during the Renaissance, the object remained tethered to a specific "here and now."
But the modern apparatus of reproduction has detached the reproduced object from the domain of tradition. When the "original" no longer possesses the unique weight of history, the very criterion of authenticity ceases to be applicable. We are witnessing the death of both the artist and the original, and with it, the funeral of the contemplative, observer who stands in awe before the inaccessible. The observer is the new currency and now acts in the artwork.
The New Theology: Art as Public Health
As the cult value of the object recedes, its exhibition value advances to a position of total dominance. However, this is not merely a matter of more eyes seeing more things. A shift in the fundamental "theology" of art has occurred:
The Old Theology: Art was a matter of individual "genius" and private revelation.
The New Theology: The health of the public and the artist as instructor.
Art is no longer a mirror for the artist's soul, but becomes the viewer's reflection in the artist. The social "health" of the public is determined by the artist's teaching is demanded by the AI revolution.
The Return to Ritual
If the original is dead and the goal is the well-being of the public, what remains of the artistic experience?
"All that remains is ritual." —SmartPigKitchen
But this is not the ritual of the secret chamber or the silent museum. It is the ritual of the mechanical. The way the masses interact with the screen, the way the eye adjusts to the rapid-fire montage of the film, the way the city dweller navigates the architecture of the street—these are the new liturgies.
In this social democracy, the "artist" is no longer a high priest, but a disciple, an instructor in how to live, a therapist. The work is no longer a destination, but a rehearsal for a new way of living. We have moved from the auratic to the social. When the ritual of the individual is exhausted, the ritual of the collective begins, transforming the "health of the public" into the ultimate aesthetic—and social—project.
