Reluctant Modernity

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Debeljak critiques postmodern art, contrasting it with the views of theorists like Baudrillard. He argues that art has devolved from its bourgeois liberal roots into a form of mass-produced kitsch, losing its unique identity and becoming a tool for corporate exploitation. Despite retaining formal spaces like museums, art is now integrated into mass society and reflects political resignation rather than an alternative reality. Debeljak suggests that the postmodern art institution cannot escape modernity but is instead destined for a complex and challenging relationship with it.