David Salle Questions Whether Unbiased Qualitative Judgments Are Possible

In a conversation published by Artnet, artist David Salle raises the question of whether qualitative judgments can ever be made without bias, suggesting that perhaps they cannot. He notes that some people view the very act of making judgments as a form of cultural oppression. Salle argues that aesthetic preferences are entirely cultural, offering the example of a preference for consonant music over dissonant music, which he says is cultural rather than intrinsic. The discussion, part of Artnet's "Lunch with Adam" series, touches on the politics of museum judgment and the cultural conditioning of taste. Salle's comments challenge the notion of objective aesthetic evaluation, a topic relevant to ongoing debates about diversity, equity, and inclusion in cultural institutions. The conversation was published by Artnet.