Abstract
The current study aims to identify the controversy dimensions between the instrumental and the aesthetic mind in Theodore Adorno’s philosophy and its representations in contemporary composition. The problem of the study is based on Theodore Adorno’s readings of the contemporary and cultural scene nature related to the conflict principle between the two concepts of conflict: the instrumental mind that makes technology, machinery; and the aesthetic mind that makes art and beauty. The importance of the study lies in presenting the ideas and thesis of the Frankfurt Critical School, as Adorno was one of its pioneers. The study includes five artworks achieved by artists from the European and American West, as the researcher’s selection criteria were based on observing the most famous and influencing artists in the contemporary art and on choosing artworks achieved between 1958 and 2004. The study found that most important of which is celebration of the productions of contemporary fine art in all its marginal, which elevates it to the place of artistic and aesthetic work to cut contemporary human ties with everything that is perfect and Semitic, and elevate human mind, spirit, and general human culture. Furthermore, the study found that the most important of which is the emergence of hybrid artistic genres combining different creative styles and turning a large number of artists to the practice technical specialties away from their original areas in search of innovation and fame.
Mowafaq Ali Alsaggar