Bell in the Fog

One who recognizes objective reality and deals with it accordingly creates with visionary clarity.

The worst circumstances are nonetheless actionable to such an artist. Corruption, like every element of culture, increases until it exceeds its boundaries, and thus its possibilities, then grows weak and declines, sometimes precipitously.

Whenever possible, act; when action is not possible, gather strength.

Force and Limit

Engaged in the creative act, it is possible to maintain focus on the outcome.

Trace expression from aesthetic concept through emotional and intellectual evaluation, and what is significant is total effect.  All else reflects the cultural climate, regardless of the degree to which any personal, subjective, and objective forces combine in composition and execution of the work.

Grasp of Reality

Historically, art directs attention and reflects cultural direction.

Dictators and tyrants have always punished artists with whom they were in contention, but it is only since the twentieth century that such base, evil impulses have become pervasive in a general culture overseen by internationalist media promoting global conformity of thought.

And thus it is that the artist rebels against a new dark age.

To Rise Above

The artist chooses, and afterwards the only choice is forward.

This is transcendence: to rise beyond circumstance and obstacle, ridicule and contempt.

And this is expression, as opposed to pretension, which is defined by attachment.  Attachment to the self, to recognition, and to the lesser things, wealth and personal power. These have no significance beyond themselves.

The way of the artist is elevation.  Above, beyond.

Reality, Gesture, Object, Effect

Balance reason and the intuitive.

The creative act expresses synthesis of idea and media; it is in flux until it is complete.

Less and Excess

Impression is foundation; expression is judgement.

If the artist expresses sagacity, the work confirms clarity of perspective.

Culture Counter Culture

Art implies faith in perception and artistic vision.

Those who will not trust enough must never be trusted.

By Now

Cultural progress is in difficult straits.

Everywhere cultural expression is superseded by grasping ideology, and the loss to forward thinking is substantial.  A kind of socially-engineered suspension of intellectual risk that stultifies critical thought has generated, over time, a lack of vigor, even a dazed timidity, in the arts.

In every form and manner, give voice to truth. To deny the existence of truth is to deny life, and to know nothing.

Attention and Immersion

What most consider to be "culture" is, plainly stated, too easily grasped.

The fact that one experiences does not necessarily mean that one comprehends.

Listen, Hear, Know

Art in any medium conveys ideas. In a word, art speaks.

Denial of objective meaning does not change facts. Art confirms when all else fails or falsifies.

Beleaguered

From any perspective, the persistence of failed ideas is truly insufferable.

Neither artist nor culture can thrive is an atmosphere poisoned by absurd ideologies and dogmatic denial of the fundamental right to call into question what one collective or another asserts to be "settled issues". Clearly, these are viewpoints that operate to the advantage of one at the expense of another. Expression will be free, and if not, it will be pointless.

All Costs

One critical cliché suggests that, at one time or another, society is "ready" for certain works of art.

This suggests a belief that human character is infinitely malleable, a common error among political ideologues who would define and limit culture.  The idea is not without some merit, but it fails to take into account individual force of will. It is the nature of rebellion to find its expression in those who will bear the yoke of responsibility, but who cannot tolerate the idea of any form of subjection to a mindless conformity.

Adapt

Those who know nothing of culture create certain self-evident conditions.

Brute ignorance and dead-end apathy are not the artist's concerns, but they must be overcome nonetheless.

Undetermined

Music is everywhere.

Yet musical culture, with its myriad facets, has vanished, absorbed into a single, all-encompassing media perspective.  The term "rock-star" is now used as an adjective that has nothing to do with music; living examples number fewer than a dozen, and less than a handful of these are genuine, consequential artists. The dead bury the dead.

Ultimately, the artist must shoulder the burden of the real, wherever it leads.

Some Confusion

The obscure may ultimately be revealing.

Rightly understood, the mind and individual range of perception are sources and origins of creative power. But judgments of this nature cannot account for all forces in play, nor can the commonplace simply be subdued and brought to bear upon expression without depth of understanding.

Many things are ultimately beyond the scope of mere intellect, and there are many people who are highly, yet poorly, educated.

If It Is Possible

Art requires thought.

Initial impression communicates very little; superficial responses communicate even less. Ignorance of aesthetic principles and purposes are commonplace, so to accomplish anything is to achieve much.

But art does, in fact, communicate far more than merely that which is already known.

Think, Again

The artist says, I will make you see.  The composer thinks, I will make you listen, and hear.

One creates the future by setting aside both preconceptions and personal dogmas.  It cannot be otherwise, and it is an individual act, not a matter of social conformity.

This is the meaning of the modern, not the destruction of Time Past, but the opening of the mind to Time Future.

Find the Key

Every element of a work must contribute to total effect.

This is true of art, and life as well. Cause yields effect, and may be directed. Nothing is "random".

Direct Experience

Connectivity is not creativity. Not by a long shot.

Effortlessness renders expression dubious, spotlighting its impermanence and eviscerating its power.

If my concepts are not given due consideration, if my music is not in your ears, I accomplish nothing, as far as "connectivity" and other such claptrap goes.

And far more than wasted effort is in progress; here, now, and at all times, one must move forward.

Promoveo, promovi, promotum.

Approaching Terra Incognita

Consider "objective reality" in terms of limits to perception.

Understanding this, attend to what may be seen, heard, focused upon, and expressed past those limits. Here are visions lit by sunlight and fire, symphonies stirred out of desert sands.