The irony of pretense and art
Today's society sometimes views high art as pretentious, which is unimaginably ironic, given the history of art as a public service. For a long time, art was a kind of gift to people from the people, but now, Adorno says, the market seems to have gotten involved, such that the quality of art among the masses has decayed to the point of mere formulaic entertainment. Now what used to be a service to the people has become a toy for the elite.
The irony of capitalism
Adorno has Marxist and Hegelian overtones in his treatment of capitalism, and in this case, it's not hard to see why the criticism fits. By reducing art to a mere trophy in determining one's cultural relevance ("Have you seen the latest episode of ____ yet?"), people will begin accepting worse and worse art until finally, the art won't even really be art anymore. This is the capitalist irony, that the masses (in order to impress each other) will consume continually worse products, while paying more for them. The businesses are not interested in giving their consumers better, richer human lives; they want to make money.
The irony of esoteric arts
Because real art will not have the same cultural availability as capitalist interests dictate the public opinion of art, art will begin to seem more pretentious, esoteric, and unavailable. Then, it ironically will just become that way, as slowly, real art (musical instruments, paints and canvas, artisan crafts, etc) will become un-affordable and undesired by the masses. Adorno says the effect will be that art will become more esoteric.
The irony of mass media
Because businesses know how to exploit their consumers, they can control them, says Adorno. He believes that as entertainment devices and technology improve, mass media will become more and more harmful to people, and more and more people will become more and more entangled by corporate interests.
The irony of bad art
Art is supposed to be one of those sacred, transcendental parts of human experience that fits with "philosophy" and "theology." But because of the capitalist market, art can become a force for bad, says Adorno, as bad art because more and more socially acceptable. The irony here is that art was supposed to be a tool for public justice and public service, but because of big businesses, it will become a weapon that businesses use to exploit people.
