Ranger19 Mar 2006

Art isn't frivolous, it is necessary for a fulfulling life. As I said - without indulging our creative impulses life would get incredibly tedious and a little pointless. Even on a personal level we are surrounded by art, even in the way we decorate our houses, the way we dress, the way we react to the natural world. I just don't see a direct link with God in art, nor do I personally find one necessary for an appreciation of the artist's skills. It's true that art makes the world a brighter place - and if you want to say that the propensity for creativity is something given to us by God (as a race) then I'm perfectly happy to go along with that. It makes good sense to me. But on an individual level I don't find the ordinary arts to be divinely inspired.

And this is where I go off on a rant about how art - and music - has become too technical, too abstract...and is, in my opinion, bordering on becoming frivolous. Art no longer even stirs any emotions - what am I supposed to think when confronted by half a cow? Or by a room with a light that constantly turns on and off? Or a canvas with a small blob of blue and nothing else? These say nothing to me. And whereas I'm not hyper-intellectual, I'm not stupid either - and if they're too abstract for me to appreciate after a bit of thought, then they aren't entertaining.