A Timely Tangent
I don’t want to publicly reflect too much on what I’m reading right now because it’s research for a short film I’m going to make, but in the midst of today’s pages I came across a quote that concerned itself with a question I often ask myself of today’s times. The quote went as such:
The painters of today are deprived of such serenity. Even if they have basically the heart the creator needs - I mean the closed heart - it is of no use; for everyone, including the saint himself, is mobilized.
I don’t think it in exactly those words, but the question I find myself asking myself is “can art exist separate of its time,” or something to that effect. There are works considered by people to timeless works of art. The special or greatly revered works often seem to contain some kind of universal appeal, or they reach beyond their creator’s lifetime. How does one achieve that kind of work? Can one really turn oneself away from society and create something that will stand the test of time? More to the point, can a creator create separate from their time and without a mission, other than to create?
Today when I scroll on TikTok or Instagram or whatever, everyone is selling me something. If it’s not a product it’s an agenda. At the very least they vie for my attention or a subscription to their channel. There’s always an expectation attached. As more and more political and global turmoil comes to attention, the artists are expected to have an opinion and to share that opinion, to be a beacon for what they believe and usually to put that at the front of their public persona. That could be anyone from the person I watch solve a word puzzle, to a movie star to an athlete, to pretty much anyone other than actual politicians, who I see online less frequently. Everyone is mobilized and expected to act.
To a degree, I think art requires an opinion, or at least a perspective. But could it be that the perspective isn’t the most important thing about the art? What if the root desire to share, to express - could that be the most important thing? Can the act itself be the intention behind the action?
I don’t know.
-J.P.