Abstract

The question of art’s commodity-character has a long history in Marxist aesthetics and has many rich dimensions. I focus here on one central aspect of this issue from which many other questions arise: the incidence of the artwork’s status as a commodity in late capitalism on the artwork’s aesthetic form and meaning. In addressing this, I look at : (1) Marx's theory of the commodity in Capital, (2) The notion of artistic autonomy in Adorno's aesthetic theory, and (3) The fetishism of artistic labour.