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.
