> If you know it's a fake then it takes away from the mystique.
On the other hand, if you can only tell the difference between the real and the fake with a microscope, then "mystique" seems to be a simple placebo effect.
It's about time we stopped holding original-yet-mediocre works like the Mona Lisa on such a high pedestal just to create some kind of "mental high" that people are deriving from the placebo effect.
There are many reasons people like art, but I think the principle reason is (or should be) admiration of skill. It's the same reason we like watching great athletes or musicians - we can recognize the amount of time and talent required to produce the end result ("wow, I couldn't do that, even if I tried!").
It's also the same reason many people have a visceral negative reaction to "art" that seemingly requires little to no skill (4'33", Pollock, etc.) - why admire something you could easily imitate with little-to-no training?
It's great that you have this view of art, but really figuring out a single principal reason is not something you're going to succeed at because people are different. Evidently even more different than you expected.
It may be a placebo effect, but I need the lie in order for it to work. I can't get the same thing by pretending it's real. My brain has to believe it's real.
So you admit you aren't actually enjoying the art itself, but are deriving a high from "witnessing an ancient piece of history" or "beholding the same matter someone famous once touched" or something?
Yeah. I like to think about ancient people and times and I draw a connection between objects and the past. If it was dug out of the ground after existing there for thousands of years I can do that. If the thing was made in a factory from a mold like every other thing in my house, then I have a hard time enjoying it. What's so wrong with that?
I mean, what do you even mean by "enjoying the art itself"? You mean that the photons hitting my retina should have some sort of inherent enjoyment that is not processed by my brain? My brain needs context to derive that pleasure.
On the other hand, if you can only tell the difference between the real and the fake with a microscope, then "mystique" seems to be a simple placebo effect.
It's about time we stopped holding original-yet-mediocre works like the Mona Lisa on such a high pedestal just to create some kind of "mental high" that people are deriving from the placebo effect.