Issue144 artists and critics.

sydUID: 151948

144"It is the artist, not the critic,* who gives society something of lasting value"
*a person who evaluates works of art, such as novels, films, music, paintings, etc.


Does the society benefit from the artist rather than the critic by being endowed with something of lasting value? The speaker contends so. According to my personal observation, although it is undeniable that the artists do contribute more to the society with their gifts and great works, without the help of the critics, their contributions tend to be confined only within a small circle of their own. Actually, artists and critics are just different people with different roles.

To begin with, the artists consider little on the issue of a better and integrated life but to focus on enlightening the society and the populace with their concepts and works, and that is how they give the society some permanent values. While the mass are fight hard for their survival and better living conditions, the artists, who pay little attentions to these issues, have more time to think about the essence of life and embody their minds with their works such as music, painting, etc. Van gogh never cared for a life with fortune or upper social class, even his survival. If not for the financial support from his brother Theo, he would have already died with hunger. However, as a preacher man, he thought hard about the reason of human existence and tried to free people's minds with his concept; as a painter, he painted the most beautiful painting of the world regardless of its price on the market. He and his works enlightened and motivated numerous people with passions and dreams lived in a later time. Now, his paintings are the most valuable in any market and are kept in the most prestigious museums not for their high price but the spirit behind the farmlands and flowers. This case aptly illustrates that the artists contribute to the society by creating works instilled with their thoughts of life and sacrificing their personal well-being.

Nevertheless, when we ponder through the reason why Van Gogh's works did not bring him the least money to survive but to resort to his brother, we discover the importance of the critics. The critics, whose jobs are to comment on the works of the artists and simplify their abstruse meanings inside to the populace, serve as the bridge or connection from the public to the artists in this sense. Van Gogh's painting were so advanced in concept at his time that even the refined critics could not understand his ideas, let alone the public. On the contrary, the avant-gardes today like experimental musicians and independent filmmakers enjoy large groups of audience and supporters mostly because of the contribution of certain amount of critics who endeavor to explain the profound concepts of their works to their supporters. Without the issues and comments of these critics appear at the music and movie magazines and related Internet sites, these gifted pioneers may be modern copies of Van Gogh and their works may remain unnoticed. From this point we can see what important role do the critics play in helping the artists to give the society the things of their lasting value.

To conclude, the artists sacrifice their individual well-beings to endow the society and the populace with their concepts and works which are of lasting value. However, the contributions of the critics cannot be ignored since without them, little people could understand the artists and their works, after all, not all of the unnoticed artists can be as fortunate as Van Gogh and their endeavor maybe made in vain.
579words 44:25mins pp3

nightsky2004UID: 155946

见解独特，文笔挺好，就是有点跑题，文中论述的是艺术家还是评论家创造lasting value的问题，至于如何创造的，我们似乎没必要去论述。

骗你哈UID: 156163

Issue144  第2篇 让砖头来得更猛烈些吧！
------摘要------
作者：寄托家园作文版普通用户     共用时间：44分58秒     594 words
从2004年3月11日20时43分到2004年3月11日21时44分
------题目------
It is the artist, not the critic,* who gives society something of lasting value.
*a person who evaluates works of art, such as novels, films, music, paintings, etc.
------正文------
The statement argues that it is the artist, not the critic, who gives society something of lasting value. However, in my understanding, while it is true that artists are indeed the most powerful force in creating true lasting values, we should not underestimate the contributions from the critics who evaluate works of art.

No doubt, it is the artist who originated the works of art that provided us with a brand new area of study to explore the true lasting value. However, art in its sense as a tool to develop a certain kind of emotion among audience is vague in delivering messages that are originally initiated by the artists. Just take the appreciation of the classic novel Shui Hu Zhuang written by Shi Nai An for example, while the government of Ming Dynasty viewed it as a illegal novel encouraging people to fight against the established traditions which they think are harmful to the society, people nowadays generally understand it in a conversed way that it actually suggest people to stay within the rules. Indeed, people living in different time with different background of knowledge will tend to interpret the works of art differently. Without professional skills and knowledge in the field of evaluating historical or cross-cultural art works, the original spirit and thought of these works may be lost as a result of the gap of experience.

Thus, the existence of the critic is actually of vital importance of discovering the true values inside the works of art. With adequate knowledge and professional evaluating skills, these critics can actually help people to pierce into the works of art and grasp the core spirit and idea. In fact, many of the critics themselves are both great artists and great historians that are able to look into the works with more depth and objectivity. In China, many of the greatest writers have join the organization that centers on the study of Hong in order to reveal the real value behind the greatest novel in Chinese history--The Red Mansion. We cannot deny the existence of such organizations did contribute a lot in forming the long lasting value of the novel itself, for without the analysis these professionals, it's quite unlikely that a novel can alter the behavior of the whole Chinese society in the way it does now.

Further, many artists have actually improved their skill of creating art works as a result of getting feedback from the critics. It is a truth acknowledged universally that learning is combined process of try and err. Great artist are not born. They acquire the skills to be excellent through constant improving their works. Therefore, to master art as a tool of delivering ideas and emotions is a process that requires constant interaction between creation and appreciation. It is not to hard to image that without certain feedbacks from the critic, it is quite impossible for the artist to improve their skills and works, since there is no practical way for them to know that how their work is appreciated and in what way they can make them better understood.

To conclude, as the grand course of art being so complex and big, we need both the artist and the critic to maintain a sustainable development of the course. Therefore, instead of concentrate solely on one side of the issue, we should encourage interaction between the artists and the critic. Placing too much focus on the artist and minimizing the value of the critic will not be a justifiable way of understanding the course of art.

imongUID: 140258

呵呵，2楼说的相当到位。

lasting value哪里去了？跑的不算轻。

到底谁创造value，创造什么value，是不是lasting value....其实文章再把这一点关键的因素补上去，我想又可以是一个“两分变五分”吧。