Issue144 toheart第九次作业

leongfishUID: 2176854

TOPIC：ISSUE 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.
WORDS：444          TIME：0:35:54          DATE：2006-2-2

It is commonly believed that the artist contributes more greatly to society than the critic, for the artist in fact gives society something of lasting value. However, it is partial to neglect the contribution of the critic, although sometimes the critic tends to do negative influence on our aesthetic process.

Apparently, art, by which people amuse themselves and convey their emotions, is a valuable treasure of human civilization. Talented artists properly arrange the sound, color, and humor to provide the feeling of pleasure and escape, which remove us form everyday worries. Also, every generation, from the ancients to the modern, would easily get resonated by the emotions and thoughts, loves and hates in the masterpieces such as the films of Chaplin and the pictures of Van Gogh and would further be drawn into deep thinking on the human nature or the future of the world.

On the other hand, never should we undervalue the function of the critics. The lasting value they created can be seen in three points below. First, it is always the critics who introduce the elegant and new-style art forms to our common people: the African music and the ancient Indian dance. Further, the critics can use their large database of knowledge to evaluate a book, a song, a drama and reveal the insights of the works. If there were no critics nowadays arguing on the value of the works of Van Gogh, we modern people would probably never notice this poor but full-of-intelligence man living in the 19th century and his idea of expressionism. In addition, the feedbacks from the critics may offer a variety of different ideas and opinions for the artists, thus could improve their creativity and passion.

However, we have to realize that the ideas from the critics sometimes have certain limit. The great works are created by the artists themselves, so it is the artists who truly understand the nature and insights-- in other words, the critics might usually make errors on the understanding of the art, or even they might ignore some great art. Take Van Gogh for example again, nearly all the temporal critics sneered at his masterpieces and believed them as nothing more than doodles; not until many years later, did the majority get a glimpse of the emotion hidden in his pictures: the struggle of the oppressed people, the strong mercy on poor men. What's more, the large number of criticism on a piece of art, which give the artists numerous complex opinions and great stress, may do negative influence on their creation.

In sum, both the artist and the critic can give society a good deal of valuable things-- they all contribute to human civilization greatly.

[ 本帖最后由 staralways 于 2006-2-6 12:38 编辑 ]