[Magdalen] The bull's sculptor just doesn't quite get it.

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

I disagree. Sometimes explaining art is the best way to open a pathway to
understanding. I have noticed often that a few comments to help me focus on
something can assist me in paying attention to that point which makes the
difference.

One simple comment about a set of paintings made very clear what to me had
been opaque.

Of course, the artist might not be articulate. They are, after all, an
artist. So they might not have the competence to explain what they are
doing. I suspect that's really why so many artists just refuse to talk
about their work.  And it's a real shame too, since a little insight into
why the art has meaning can help the outsider see why it's not just color
smeared on a canvas. And of course, when that's the impression I get, and
nobody tells me different except to snort derisively, then I literally have
no information upon which to base any change of opinion.

Some say art must speak for itself, which I think may be utter tripe, since
even we lay people know a lot of terms for techniques used in the expert
crafting of the art of prose and poetry.  If the art speaks for itself,
there would never be any point in analyzing, naming and explaining those
multitudinous techniques. But we don analyze and study because those
techniques can help understand the work.

I once was singing a piece by a member of our choir who is a professional
musician who does composition regularly, and has a developed vocabulary.  I
began asking him to clarify how he wanted certain sections to sound.
Musicians do not sing notes on the page; they allow those notes to be
mnemonics for the true music which lies behind them.  When singing music of
known style, I can pick up the sheet music and tell approximately what's
going on, but in this case, I could not. I impressed on the composer that I
did not want to merely parrot notes off a page; I wanted to sing his music.
Eventually, he got it. And his midi file of how the piece sounds didn't
hurt either.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Thu, Apr 13, 2017 at 12:03 PM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:

> If an artist has to explain the meaning of the work,
> that artist has failed.
> -M, back to the Triduum silence
>
> On Thursday, April 13, 2017, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > I certainly never saw "freedom in the world, peace, strength, power and
> > love" in that bull anyway. Just a bull charging down the street. Well
> done,
> > but geez.
> >
> >
>