Enjoy these miscellaneous musings from the Arts Guy as he shares his thoughts on some of his favorite quotes from various artists and authors!
“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring two pence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
What does this tell us about art? Maybe that a story told a hundred times is indeed a story that will be told a hundred more. As Lewis hints, these stories aren’t created by imagining what will appeal to the market. They are the story of ourselves, and we need to hear them again and again to remind us that we are not alone and that our experiences have a place in the bigger picture. So maybe fostering experiences with art can remind us that we are not alone and that beauty can occur in the darkest of moments.
The next time you experience art, no matter where the setting, allow your self and all you’ve carried to be influenced. You may feel a lightness knowing others may be carrying it too.
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
― Edgar Degas
The ability to interpret art isn’t one gained in a classroom and born out of hours of study. It’s an ability each human being gains at birth, with the senses and the ability to feel, both pain and sorrow. When a piece of art gains an audience, each member of that audience brings his or her personal experiences and histories, and these interact with the art to create a new and unique sense of meaning. Perhaps our perceptions — and all that informs them — affect the art as much as it effects a response in us.