In what ways is conceiving the relationship between commercial success and aesthetic value in inverse terms simplistic and problematic?

Answer 1

To understand art as successful based on its material success or beauty is to misunderstand art's possibilities. These crude methods for evaluating art fail to address other concerns such as: Does this art move me? Does this art have social value or political impact? Does this art challenge the viewer to look at the world in a new way? Unfortunately, the commodification of art for material value and aesthetic is all too common a mistake.