"Modern art is no longer the only field in which the deliberate breaking of taboos is the central motivation. It now appears in fields as disparate (and socially important) as commercial advertising; sports, pornography, music and other activities that privilege "performance" and increasingly rely upon specialized pharmaceuticals (Viagra, Human Growth Hormones, steroids, amphetamines and so forth); scientific research, but especially in the fields of "bio-technology," genetic modifications, mutations, and cloning; and the strategic planning and execution of military campaigns. Each one of these fields is, in its way, an "extreme" art that seeks to "shock and awe." Taken together, these various fields constitute a kind of official art, indeed, the official, State-sponsored art of the twenty-first century. "
I can't think of a better explanation as to why 'art' should be a positive experience.
