Main problems of the USA aesthetics in the end of 20 century

From the whole set of problems in American aesthetics we chose two main groups. The first group may be called epistemological: how to define art and what the difference is between art and other aesthetic notions? The second group may be called as the problems of attitude to aesthetic neo-avant-guard. Should aesthetics agree with any suggestion of an artist? Can any artefact be ascribed aesthetic value? Two articles are analyses in the text: M. Eaton's Art and Nonart and T. Binkley's Deciding about Art: A Polemic against Aesthetics. Eaton thinks that a work of art must be an artefact - a thing made artificially. But not all the things made by people are works of art. Works of art are things that live in the artistic world - in museums, exhibitions. Professionals and dilettantes should consume them. Nobody will care about the colour of a mop. But the colour of a painting has enormous meaning for its perception. Still, we will not take interest in the inner side of a painting in the museum. We are interested in inherent characteristics of the contemplated object in aesthetic experience. These characteristics may be sensitive, as well as intellectual, pleasant, as well as unpleasant. An artefact must attract the spectators' attention and arouse their interest. What is the difference between a good work and a bad work? Pop-music or soap operas are not masterpieces, because they dull the reason and the senses. The great art enriches, rewarding for perception. T. Binkley analyses M. Duchamp's two works: L.H.O.O.Q and L.H.O.O.Q shaved. In the first painting Mona Lisa is depicted with moustaches and beard, in the other we see Mona Lisa again, but shaved. As Binkley thinks, these experiences are works of art, because they are mentioned in the catalogue of the exhibition. On the one hand, Duchamp's works are not aesthetic. On the other hand, aesthetics does not deal with art only. For instance, there is beauty in nature and science. We make a conclusion that real art should always be in the sphere of aesthetics, but should not exhaust it.

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