On the aesthetic illusion

The aesthetic illusion-the experience of the content of a work of art as re ality-occurs through the mobilization and intensification of typical infant ile fantasies in the beholder. This necessarily evokes intrapsychic conflic t in the mature adult. Two illusion-producing strategies ameliorate this co nflict and effect the aesthetic illusion. The first illusion is that the ar tist's proffered fantasy is the beholder's own personal and private fantasy . This isolates the beholder from the shame- and guilt-evoking social surro und. The second illusion is that the protagonist depicted in the work is an actual person. This defends the beholder from the painful emotions attenda nt upon his instinctually gratifying identification with the protagonist. T he first illusion is necessary for the establishment of the second, but it is the second that establishes the aesthetic illusion. The aesthetic illusi on exists in a highly unstable dynamic equilibrium with the beholder's usua l reality orientation. If either orientation is too powerful, the dynamic e quilibrium is disrupted and the aesthetic experience as such is abolished.