A useful phrase of Chomsky’s, defining the process by which people unconsciously adjust their behaviour to a learnt self-censorship which adapts to the conflicting logic of the actual situation: one where, in order to support the aims of the social group, they need to genuinely believe one thing when another is the case. Required by the self-interest of the elites in parallel with and in conflict with, the openly declared aims of the democratic defence of freedom of thought. In order to progress and/or avoid trouble the ambitious person has to become skilled in this split-level avoidance of analysis while being highly-educated in debating skills. Some people have such instincts built-in it seems. Chomsky has done a great deal of work in this area, in connection with US media self-censorship by quality journalists ; often so extreme it can’t go un-noticed even by a schoolboy of some astuteness. Nevertheless, when such people are challenged about daily acceptance of inconsistent standards convenient to power ; blind to curiosity and investigation, it is often met with a quite irrational anger and indignation. Since the person concerned really does not believe it to be the case it sets up marked mental stress.

Hence the media is a strangely neurotic place with some exceptions who try to redress the balance, in soi-disant freedom-of-expression societies. So multiple tensions exist and in reading the press or looking and listening, one absorbs this tension oneself - kept within the span of the allowable. Decisions about that are not to be discussed hence a paternalism is the norm. Even at it’s most benign.

Apply this to art and you go into an nth dimension, rendering most coverage eye-glazing to any-one with the ability to make the simple judgement of : is it good, bad or indifferent in the specific context? The writing seems therefore largely aimed at the literary liberal group which feels they would like to understand modernism via reasons which travel through the word - the methods and ideas used are legion and there is a fairly universal acceptance of the totally or relatively incomprehensible. Escapes into flights of fancy ; to reflect the density of creativity imbibed. It seems to be a world of its own - articles dealing with assessments of up-coming auctions come down to earth quickly with facts needed by the wealthy, giving the impression of the superiority of the connaisseur who creates the subject via his existence on the scene.

Certainly markets are made and nutured, but in this practical commericial atmosphere no-one subscribes to the notion that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There may be many areas of taste but quality is quantifiable, in modernism many pressures are at work to avoid logical assessment the espousal of the Bohemian and the Romantic in its vague emotionalism is a valued tool. The dominance of New York has long been internalized via media conditioning.