Thursday, March 13, 2014

Shallows

The arts directly impact culture, just as they reflect it.


Among the impressions of the day are those that signal subjectivity and narrow predisposition, that is to say, intentionally incomplete perspective, on a variety of subjects.  For many this is acceptable-- it is the given, or the "received wisdom" in regard to cultural phenomena.

But the way of the artist is to broaden viewpoints, hazard the depths, propose possibilities, establish limits for their defining principles in expression (or exceed them for aesthetic purposes), and in doing so continually advance human awareness, clarifying the mysteries of life and consciousness.

To do less is to do very little indeed.