A State of Thralldom

My morning reading:

A work of art encountered as a work of art is an experience, not a statement or an answer to a question. Art is not only about something; it is some­thing. A work of art is a thing in the world, not just a text or com­mentary on the world…

Of course, works of art (with the important exception of music) refer to the real world—to our knowledge, to our experience, to our values. They present information and evalua­tions.  But their distinctive feature is that they give rise not to con­ceptual knowledge (which is the distinctive feature of discursive or scientific knowledge—e.g., philosophy, sociology, psychology, his­tory) but to something like an excitation, a phenomenon of commitment, judgment in a state of thralldom or captivation.

Against Interpretation, On Style; Susan Sontag, 1966