People demand so much from beauty these days because of what it must substitute for. They've forgotten how to touch, I think. There's an incredible craving for sensory experience which can't be entirely satisfied by the eyes -- although it comes close; it conjures up fantasies which are as close to fulfilment as one might expect.
Look at the explosion of visual stimulation on the one hand; and the obsession with eating on the other. Sugar and fat have been around for centuries; why now are they an almost paralyzing draw for so many? There's such an immense hunger in society, which I would say is a hunger for a certain interconnectedness, for a certain kind of touch. Or maybe the sound of a voice. Or the invisible sound of someone listening.
Sometimes I sit on a park bench and watch people watch each other. For many people it seems there's a wanting which doesn't dream of fulfillment, or more precisely, which dreams, and maybe demands in anger, but doesn't really imagine. (I would distinguish between this and simple fantasy which is a brilliant and longstanding tradition.)
