Issue144 【Persistence小组】第15次作业

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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.

The speaker contends that the permanently valuable thing is given by the artist, who creates works of art, rather than the critic, who evaluates works of art. I concede that critics can assist in analyzing the works of art for the mass and provide references for the artists. Otherwise, I agree with this statement for the reasons as follows:

It is true that critics can help people to appreciate the works of art by interpreting the meanings the artists express such as their feelings, moods and ideas and so forth and to assess the artistic merits as well as defects in the works. Without the assistance of explanatory comments from critics, some laymen would equate the value of the doodle on the blackboard by some schoolchildren to that of the paint poured haphazardly on a fabric to express chaos by an artist. Additionally, artists could always benefit from a constructive criticism to improve his or her works.

However, critics, subordinate to the artists, does not give something of enduring value despite their indispensable function of distinguishing between superior art and inferior entertainment for the society. It is the artists, endowed with skills and/or talents, who bring the priceless works to the society usually after long periods of time for creating, while critics just evaluate artists’ works by presenting their points of view through articles or speeches. Picasso, the most famous painter in abstract art field, was not eulogized by the contemporary critics, whereas his works are now regarded as the great works since the criteria set by critics have changed. This illustrates that the value of art will not decrease as time passing by, while the value of what critics created does decline. In fact, there is no authority on art insofar as there would be no person who understands every subtle meaning the artist wants to express in the art.

Furthermore, without artists, there would be no works of art that is not only a pleasant distraction but also an essential tool helping people comprehend further into the inner as well as the outer world. Hundreds of years after the artists' death, their great works such as paintings by Picasso, compositions by Mozart, music by Beethoven, plays and poems by Shakespeare– to name but a few – are eternal in all respects and have still forced wonderment all over the world. Therefore, the artists have provided society with something of lasting value through their own works of art, the essential justification for existence.

In conclusion, it is the artists rather than the critics produce literature, music, film, dance – in short, every form of art – that embody the depth of humanity and help us to explore the elements in our lives – love, hope, nature, to name a few - in this era of rapid social and technological change giving rise to growing life complexity and psychological displacement.