Wednesday, February 4, 2009

The Shorthand of Emotion

Leo Tolstoy said that music is the shorthand of emotion.

I'd agree, and I'd elaborate on his brilliant philosophy with another bold statement:
Art is the embodiment of feeling.

All art, each different kind, is another part of emotion, another part of the whole. Emotion is a being that can be seen, heard and known through art. Poetry and writing are her character, paintings show her face, sculptures reveal her body, and music is her voice. Mankind is her soul.

Meet the spirit that separates man from beast.

Try to think about it for a moment. Do you know any artists? Any kind? I don't just mean painters, the general artists, I also mean the singers and the writers and the actors. They are artists too.

What do they do that makes their art so delightful? Can you tell me? You might not be able to, if you aren't the artist. I'm not saying that the artist is special and you aren't. I'm saying that only the artist knows what they were feeling, what they were thinking when they did it.

The paintings, the music, the words, they are all feelings.

Of course there is the occasional artist that feels nothing. They just do it to get attention, to please the crowds. These are what Poltok, the author of "My Name is Asher Lev", called "art whores".

(I highly recommend that book for any artist or lover of art, or anyone that just wants inspiration- it's truly fantastic)

Now I'm not leaving the poor bastard children of these art whores out in the cold. They are often adopted and given feeling by the patrons that buy them and the public that adores them. They too end up embodying art.

What can you do with this sweet bite of knowledge?

Feel. Feel because it is beautiful. You can write it, you can draw it, paint it, sing it or sculpt it, or you can keep it in your heart and cherish it. Just feel.

Link

I'm trying something new! Here's my link of the day! (the first one EVAR!)
http://www.almostdailyexploits.com/
She's clever and funny! I really enjoy reading her posts. Check it out!

4 comments:

david mcmahon said...

G'day from Australia - thanks for the visit and the compliment. I'd be delighted to see you across my blog again.

I do like your writing style and I see from your earlier post that you're writing a novel.

If I can help in any way, do let me know. Having explored my way through this zone unassisted, I try and help as many novelists as I can.

You might find a lot of useful information on my 19-part series called ``Telling Right From Wrong''.....

Merisi said...

Congratulations on winning David's Post of the Day award, well deserved, I enjoyed reading your post! :-)

Sandi McBride said...

My best work is done with music as my background...it sets a tone, makes a mood, creates a character and burns on the page.
Sandi
ps
congrats on Post of the Day mention from David

larkswing said...

Over from David's . . .
Really enjoyed your post :)

Congrats on POTD.