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7/31/2019 The Function of Art - Subramanian A
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(From my book 68 dated 15/11/1996-22/11/1996)
It is time we took a fresh look at the function of art. The M F Hussein incidenthas compelled me to take a fresh angle on the function of art.
Any artist expresses his inner visions through the form of his art. A writer, a
poet expresses his inner world in the form of literature and poetry. All through
the human history, the function of true art and literature has been the
expression of heart, has been noble and lofty without being pretentious. Just as
the poet is the one who sees the infinite truth and beauty of life and things and
sings in their praise in their multifarious ephemeral manifestations, so too the
artist sees the eternal beauty and truth and reveals in his work their myriad
expressions in the world of transience. It is his special gift, just as it is the poets
to lend to his representations of finite and temporal life and things a touch of
the infinite and the immortal.
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Emerson says that beauty is an invitation to what is within us. It is this beauty
and not the ugly in us which the artist endeavors to portray through his art
and through it, evoke in the public at large the awareness and the appreciation
of that beauty. For arts function, consciously or unconsciously, directly or
indirectly, has been to purify, chasten and exalt our unregenerate passions and
instincts through the revelation of beauty within us and in Nature. And since
beauty is delight and harmony, true art cannot but heighten and deepen those
attributes of Reality within us and without.
When an artist fails to perform this, he fails in his task. But who will judge an
artist? The artist may be true and sincere from his own angle but if the world
feels otherwise about him, what else can happen other than a cold or open war
between the society and the artist?
Beyond the expression of inner beauty and truth of the artist, art in itself is a
medium of communication. The artist, during his height of creation is
communicating with his creation. When he finishes his work and presents his
creation before the world, he is communicating with the world. He is conveying
something to the world through his work. The artist speaks to the worldthrough forms, images, lines and colors whereas a writer or poet communicates
with the world through symbols, imageries, words, plots and characters.
So, all the basic concepts of communication are equally applicable to all forms
of art and literature from this angle. In communication, there is the giver and
the receiver concept. One speaks while the other listens. One dances while the
other watches. One presents while the other observes and contemplates.
Then, the reaction comes. It may be an act of response. It may be an act ofmaturity or immaturity. In short, in the giver-receiver concept of
communication, two mental planes are at work. The giver has a field of
experience. The receiver too has a field of experience. So, communication is a
one to one activity. It is a communion of two spheres, two fields of experience,
two mental planes in interaction. Ideas are flowing from one plane. Reactions
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and responses follow from the other plane in the form of thoughts and
reflections, in the form of ideas and interpretations.
An artist may be at a higher plane. The people, the society may be at a lower
plane. This can mislead things. Vice-versa also can happen. An artist may be
standing at a lower plane of mind than the plane of society or people. One
cannot take for granted that an artist is always standing at a higher plane than
the society or people. It is a false notion.
An artist or a writer may mean one thing but people may take it in a different
sense. It leads to a cross communication. What is the solution to avoid such a
cross communication? An artist, writer, a poet uses so many assumptions,
presumptions, images and symbolism in his work. In other words, he has set a
tone of his mind in his work. He has thrown his thoughts and feelings into his
work. He has meant something to convey to his audience.
People receive this mental plane of the artist the creator at their conscious,
intellectual level. It is something like two mental planes in interaction one
that of the artist and the other, that of the audience. Unless the artist makes
his intentions clear in his work without any doubt, the audience is given amental task, an intellectual task in making the conclusions.
So, the artist has to be clear and sincere in his approach. He should make clear
of his intentions. He should not leave any element of doubt or confusion upon
the heart of people. Clarity of theme, clarity of presentation is the primary duty
of any artiste. He can use simple images and symbols. It should convey directly
to the heart of people. People should be able to understand the theme. They
should be able to enjoy and experience the theme.
So, any art work has two planes about it. One is the intellectual plane. The
other is the level of the heart or the plane of aesthetics. Finally, everything
reduces to the level of heart or head or both according to our view. Any art
work should appeal our heart. It should speak our language. It should elevate
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our spirits to the values and virtues of life. This is the fulfillment of any
discipline of art. If art was only an intellectual circus, then, it is better that we
read Theory of Relativity than listened to a nightingale. Even The Theory of
Relativity could be learnt but it a sad tale that todays so called Modern Art and
Post Modernism in literature stand beyond the scope of our ordinary
intelligence and reason. We really sweat in the interpretation of the works
coming under these categories.
Any art work should be self-explanatory. Whatever is there in the art work
should carry its weight directly to the hearts of people. To achieve this, the
artist, poet or the writer should convey his intentions in a well-knit manner
through his work. There should not be any sort of communication gap between
the brush and the eyes of people; between the pen and the mind of the readers.
The function of art presupposes that an artist should not forget certain
traditional, social values. People are free to follow their tradition, religion, faith
and belief. Any society has its own evolutionary principles about life. An artist
is free to present his innovative ideas but these ideas should not be against life
giving principles. No artist is given a license to present his wayward views
under the pretext of artistic freedom. There are certain areas that we must nottouch in the life giving principles. If an artist claims that he has the freedom of
expression, then, the society also can easily claim that it has the freedom to
check such freedom of expression. This is also true. No artist can overlook the
tone of the society before whom he is placing his work. If he overlooks, then,
disaster is awaiting him. If the motivation, intention, of the artist is one of
selflessness and impartiality and only aimed at the betterment of mankind,
aimed at the co-existence of people and not aimed at challenging something in
which he doesnt believe, such a freedom of expression will be eventuallyaccepted by the world. Otherwise, he will be eventually challenged. This is one
of the principles of life.
An artist may have deviated from the common denomination of using symbols
to represent an idea. People have their own general sense about images and
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symbols. It is intricately woven with our tradition, belief, faith, social percepts,
our sense of value of life and above all, our experience. It is a simple, yet, a
complex factor. It is while we present an idea, a concept by way of symbolism
that we often cross-communicate since symbols may have different meanings
under different contexts. Unless the intention of the artist is clear, the context
becomes just like a fog to the experiencer. It leads to misinterpretation of
symbols or images. It may finally end even in a controversy.
Unfortunately, both the artist and the people around him are not so sensible
even though both may claim that they are. In all probability, todays artist is
more of an outlaw than a feeler of humanity. He is under the guise that
employments of modern techniques in art also mean toppling the general belief
of people. This is not revolution. Human belief goes beyond reason. Any
immoral act should be revealed and offended and an artist is free to do that but
it is not at all his duty or right to offend against simple faith and belief of
common people.
Why did MF Hussein draw a nude picture of one of the Hindu gods? What was
his intention? Why did he go against a popular belief? If he would say that he
has the freedom of expression, others also have the same freedom of expressionto draw the nude pictures of his wife or daughter and say that they too cannot
be questioned on grounds of freedom of expression. Will M F Husain settle for
that?
Today, artists handle the theme of nudity with a variety of explanations. We
are forced to believe their words because the society has classified them under
celebrities. Today, the society has no hard and fast rules about anything if
you open the e-mail pages, you can find Hot pictures, for example - and thisalso get reflected in art and literature (Man is merchandising nudity and sex).
Actually, a loose society serves as a platform for any artist to escape with any
kind of explanation for his craft work. Todays artist is trying to bring about a
revolution by way of perverted ideas. It wont pay any dividends other than
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creating a temporary sensation. One may get some supporters to the theory of
post modernism at present but it wont be the same as always.
Remember, any artist of any discipline is ultimately a social being since he is
part of a society. He cannot stand apart from the rest of humanity. Being a
social creature, an artist has got a commitment towards society. No artist can
escape from this framework.
Now, what is the aim of any social commitment? The aim is to bring in peace
and harmony in the world by the presentation of an idea using brush or pen and
not to bring divided thoughts among the people. One can really be a
revolutionist by showing higher planes of truth not at the cost of the general
beliefs and notions of life.
Remember, truth is always simple. The expression of truth need not be by way
of an intellectual brain storm. Giant trees may withstand storms but storms are
really unfavorable for the growth of the garden of life.
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