Michele Dantini on Art, Public Sphere, and the Crisis of Contemporary Criticism

In a 2017 interview with Artribune, art historian Michele Dantini discusses his book 'Arte e sfera pubblica' (Donzelli, 2016), arguing that art becomes truly public only when it engages with shared motivations and a 'deep vocation' of individuals and collectivity, not through bureaucratic classifications. He critiques the current art world's self-definition as entertainment and the separation between ethics and aesthetics. Dantini calls for a criticism that rejects jargon and clichés, advocating for clarity and complexity to reach a broad public. He references Roberto Longhi's concept of 'literary activity' intrinsic to art criticism, and distinguishes between iconography and iconology, noting Panofsky's shift from metaphysical to positive method after his American exile. The book includes essays on Duchamp, Le Corbusier, and Piero Manzoni, and a series of short reviews. Dantini reflects on the fragility of contemporary Italian art due to a lack of 'cultural nation' and true citizenship, and questions the role of artists in a financialized era, suggesting a possible world without art but with formal and informal research.