Reinterpretation of the autonomy of art in the contemporary environment

Abstract This paper examines current status of art in society from the perspective of ‘Yin and Yang’ philosophy (Chinese Philosophy of Change) by using the notion of ‘the power of art’ as a critical lens to: (1) analyse the internal logic of the relationship between autonomy and heteronomy of art, (2) illuminate the superiority of artistic ideology, (3) clarify the transformative role of critique in contemporary art. And this article emphasise that art is not an accessory to authority, politics, technology or other, but—a memory system—the last defender of freedom. In other words, today, art need to be (or will be) once again liberating from the sin of fetishism (technology), as it was.