ABSTRACT
a new art generally inherits an old aesthetic. The first picture-houses were an offshoot of the fun fair; photography has only with difficulty emancipated itself from the ideals of painting. Broadcasting was at first treated as merely the diffusion of what already existed: it was a wonderful invention, like the telephone, which enabled you to overhear what was being said or sung in some distant place. What was overheard was not designed to be overheard: it was a normal noise of some kind.
