Art in the Age of Likeability: Nietzschean Perspectives

Contemporary performative art seems opposed to Nietzsche’s spiritual aristocracy because it promotes a democratisation and anarchisation of art through the involvement of the public as performer, as well as the creators’ identification with their artwork. Social media have gone a step further, by linking performances to an even stricter submission to the verdict of the public. However, art in the age of likeability also preserves distinctive Nietzschean features. In the end, whether a form of creativity is prone to nihilism or life-affirming rests entirely on the spiritual health or sickness of the creator.