Here‘s Bill Deresiewicz writing about art in Salmagundi. I have little to add except a recommendation (Deresiewicz is one of the very best critics we have) and these notes:

1. Deresiewicz cites Dave Hickey: “’A culture that proposes the instantaneous alleviation of anxiety as its primary goal,’ [Hickey] says, is inimical to art and its civilizing function.” Supposing that 2023 America is such a culture, it’s worth noting that we still have a whole lot of anxiety. This makes me think of Girard on the sacred: something is sacred if the more you try to control it, the more it controls you. A lot of what we do–e.g., in the culture wars–can be read as attempts to control the sacred. Whether or not you buy that, it’s worth noting that we, arguably, have so much anxiety precisely when we’re trying so hard to control anxiety.
2. Here’s a line worth thinking about: “Art comes before politics, because truth comes before justice.”