Shock Value and Its Double

Expressive, perceptive art, even that of sublime merit, will not move the complacent.

A culture dominated by self-absorption must have either art that appeals to vanity or gives offense to its perceived "enemies", those whose perspectives on life are different.

Music and art that directs the attention to a greater sense of being and reality has no impact on such spectators and listeners. Nonetheless, creative minds of broader vision will neither be still, nor silent.

Transmission X

Observe the near-total absence of contemplative art forms, as if they have never existed.

Just as the desire for "enlightenment" is itself an obstacle to that goal, so is the quest for any kind of artistic meaning when cultures and societies are wholly given over to gross, material self-indulgence.

Become and Be

Nothing remains nothing.

Culture created with the expectation that it will become obsolete is not culture at all, but waste.

Everywhere At Once

The creative mind may be absorbed by the times, or defy them.

Yet there is another perspective, one that understands what is within one's will and power, and what is not.  With this understanding there is no reason to give consideration to anything beyond the work.

Against the Grain

There are those for whom art is a vehicle, and those for whom art is a work of creation.

A vehicle serves the ends and agendas of artist, and it is only successful insofar as it provides for the artist's "passions".  But by creation, I mean an objective expression that exists in and of itself, with its own intrinsic value and meaning, beyond the temporal reality of its creator.

Autonomy and The Work

The artist, if anyone, understands limitations and constraints.  These always exist.

Approaches to creative work that obviate the effects of circumstances beyond the artist's will and control are essential. One cannot accommodate ignorance; one can do everything within reason to elevate the light.

Ends and Approaches

Reach for those things that do not yet exist.

Expression reflects learning and experience as well as perceptivity and vision.