Post 8 – The Power of Art
Posted on | December 14, 2009 | 5 Comments
I had a conversation with a friend in high school, sometime back during the Lincoln administration, about art and society. She was a talented piano player and singer who was becoming disenchanted with art. She said that, with everything that was going on in the world, it seemed to her a life pursuing art was a pointless life, that there was so much more that was so much more important to do. My comment then was that a society without art is a dead society and, therefore, pursuing art might be the most important thing one could do; assuring the preservation of society itself. (My friend, by the way, ended up going to Juilliard, so she seemed to have gotten past her disenchantment.)
I still fee that way.
This is not just an empty, philosophical stance. Consider that one of the first things the Nazis did when they came to power was declare which art was sanctioned and which art was “decadent”. What they considered decadent was anything that showed any creative or original voice, not necessarily things that were sexual or salacious as the word decadent might imply. Art is often considered dangerous by totalitarian governments or dogmatic people. Again, not necessarily only art that questions policy, incites descent or demands change, but any art that questions anything because questions cause thinking and thinking is very dangerous. That’s the kind of danger I’m attracted to.
Art has the power change everything, to preserve everything, to question everything. It can provoke thought, emotion, action. It can express the inability to act. It can funnel great mourning and great joy. It can tell the truth and can both tell and expose the great lie.
So. I don’t know if what I do is the most important thing I could do, but it is close to the only thing I can do so what’s to be done? Even in those moments when I despair, which are rarer as I grow older, I remind myself that what I do is contributing to the evolution of the mind of man and I find some peace.
~Geoff Hoff
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December 14th, 2009 @ 11:01 pm
There is not doubt, you are a contributor.
Sheila
December 14th, 2009 @ 11:14 pm
Sheila,
Thank you for that!
Geoff
December 15th, 2009 @ 12:31 am
I completely agree with you — Art is an incredibly important part of living. It has added so much to my life, I literally don’t know what I would do without it.
I think that your post also speaks at least tangentially to what the religious referred to as “call” or “vocation.” I think that these terms extend far beyond religion and can accurately describe why we do art.
I think many of us find that without doing art, something is missing. We are driven to create, to express something that comes from someplace so deep inside that I only know how to speak of it in spiritual terms.
That’s not to say that art is all inspiration, and no technique. Both can be critically important. But I believe that at the root of every great work of creation is this underlying drive to bring something new into being. To create, to design and most of all to communicate; that I believe is our call.
I think more often than not, the choice is to answer it, sometimes be frustrated in the process, but end up fulfilled. Or to turn away from the call and always feel like something is missing.
Take care,
Andy
December 15th, 2009 @ 12:48 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by acdolph, Mike Shippey. Mike Shippey said: RT @SheilaAtwood: The power of art. @geoffhoff http://www.tipsonwriting.net/blog/2009/12/post-8-the-power-of-art #powerblog [...]
December 15th, 2009 @ 2:37 am
Every thing that comes from a heart of passion is a unique creative work and a true gift to the rest of the world.
Hey, I just made that up!
Great post, Geoff.
And in my opinion…art rules!
MS