I'm teaching a class at USC on Reality TV.
...It's not that "unscripted" non-unionized self-presentation is automatically granted the status of the Real, in fact, a lot of what we're talking about is the aesthetic construction of "authentic" feeling. But even more than ten or fifteen years ago, under the current regime of screens, we are all always adjusting to the demands of an omnipresent market in human capital. The demands of reality TV are now the water we swim in. It's easier to imagine the end of the world than an end to the hustle for influence. "Selling out" gets more and more meaningless. Meanwhile, ArtPrice.com tracks the $186 million turnover on Picassos in 2024, while a hoard of paintings sits in the Geneva Free Port warehouse as a store of value for the obscenely wealthy and reality tv seems more authentic.
We talked about Benjamin in class. Art in the age of late reality has lost its aura to the point of becoming a valuation process for NFTs. But this class is really driving home that it's art that we miss, it's art that we're mad at, and we still live our lives through aesthetics. Of course, I remain on the side of it was capitalism all along. But as we pursue our niche and quixotic efforts at human connection, meaning, and ritual, I can feel the ghost of the arts and humanities laughing at us...
