"What do you think an artist is? An imbecile who only has eyes if he is a painter, or ears if he’s a musician, or a lyre at every level of his heart if he’s a poet, or even, if he’s a boxer, just his muscle? On the contrary, he is at the same time a political being, constantly alive to heart-rending, fiery or happy events to which he responds in every way. How could it be possible to feel no interest in other people and by virtue of an ivory indifference to detach yourself from the life which they so copiously bring you? NO, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It’s an instrument of war for attack and defense against the enemy."Many paint for decoration. Many create works that could be sold in art galleries that are little more than decoration. But are they art? As an expression of an individual's aesthetic taste, sure. As an expression of self in relation to others or even self in relation to self, as communication, as discovery - there must be more than an aesthetically pleasing end result. Communication itself does not require intentionality, everything we do is communication. But for it to be meaningful, for it to last, there must be purpose in the heart of the artist. Perhaps this is the difference between great art and the kind of art that passes away in moments. Great art communicates something. It speaks to the soul. It helps me reorganize my world, my mind, my heart. It speaks some kind of truth. Would Mozart's music matter at all to us today if it did not speak into the heart? It would have died long ago. Shakespeare speaks truths of the human condition that are not dependent on being immersed in his society. Van Gogh's Starry Night stirs the heart from a century past and his life and work is more recent than these others. Can "decoration" communicate like this? What do you think?
~ Pablo Picasso
"Artists use lies to tell the truth, while politicians use them to cover the truth up."
~ Evey Hammond (character), "V for Vendetta" [screenplay by The Wachowski Brothers]
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