Daily Meditation: Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Whether they be musicians, poets, painters, or other, the …

10/17/2006

Whether they be musicians, poets, painters, or other, the majority of contemporary artists have settled on concepts of art which most people find completely incomprehensible. But if they keep the meaning of their works to themselves – and you can’t be sure that even they know what it is! – the public can never make use of these works to refine their sensibilities and understanding. Artists are endowed with faculties of perception which put them in contact with a world different from the ordinary world; the realities they touch on are not those just anyone can grasp in his everyday life, it is true. But in translating their discoveries, artists must strive to use a language accessible to all… at least to those who want to understand and be enlightened. Otherwise, what good are these works? People have the right to write a poem or to paint a picture for themselves, of course, but then let them keep it to themselves. It makes no sense to address the public in a language it cannot understand… or in a language some pretend to understand in order to appear more enlightened than the crowd.