The Form of Happiness. Some Remarks on Art, Mimesis and Technology in the Wake of Adorno’s Conception of Natural Beauty

Abstract

The article investigates the relationship between the concepts of mimesis, technology and art in Adorno, in the light of some epistemological implications of the Anthropocene. In order to do so, it starts from the problematic concept of natural beauty, by showing its internal dialectic between social and natural moments. Then, an interpretation of the work of art is proposed, which identifies its natural moment in the peculiar kind of productive praxis that takes place within it. Art in this sense is a mimetic technology that does not only imitate art as an object, but also imitates the productive process of nature. Finally, on the basis of this mimetic moment, the article analyses the emancipatory potential of art, interpreted as a form of transformative praxis, which modifies the relationship between technology and nature.

Keywords

• theodor w. adorno
• natural beauty
• artwork
• technology
• mimesis