But I’ve also got to point out that in aesthetic fields, when you get to the point where inferential distance makes laymen unable to appreciate what you’re doing, you’ve gone from creation to masturbation.
That’s a little much—there’s plenty of art which appeals to specialist audiences (hard science fiction, for example—most people aren’t going to have much fun with Diaspora), but which is still a meaningful effort by the artist.
Some video games, too, seem to be aimed at very narrow audiences, and yet are quite impressive if you happen to be part of that audience. For example, the infamously difficult I Wanna Be The Guy is quite clever, but it definitely takes a certain kind of background and mindset to actually enjoy playing it. And there are many people who don’t appreciate even extremely popular video games; for example, my mom will never experience what makes people enjoy Halo.
That’s a little much—there’s plenty of art which appeals to specialist audiences (hard science fiction, for example—most people aren’t going to have much fun with Diaspora), but which is still a meaningful effort by the artist.
Some video games, too, seem to be aimed at very narrow audiences, and yet are quite impressive if you happen to be part of that audience. For example, the infamously difficult I Wanna Be The Guy is quite clever, but it definitely takes a certain kind of background and mindset to actually enjoy playing it. And there are many people who don’t appreciate even extremely popular video games; for example, my mom will never experience what makes people enjoy Halo.