Monday, September 23, 2013

"We are not a-MUSED!"


Coomaraswamy argues that the best art is traditional, and he argues that this is due to it pointing toward a divine, or even having a spark of the divine. The issue that Coomaraswamy sees in Modern Art, which I am inclined to agree with, is that Modern Art shifts the focus to the artist.  There is a loss of depth when art does not transcend the individual.  I feel that any art that needs an understanding of the artist to appreciate is in many ways inferior.  Coomaraswamy argues that Traditional Art had a lack of ego, artists gave credit to some divine power for inspiration. The image immediately that comes to mind are the muses of Greek mythology who come to divinely inspire artists.  Ironically one of the worst films ever created dealt with a Muse coming to earth to divinely inspire an artist to open a roller disco.  In this 1980 Olivia Newton-John camp-fest muses glow and dance to E.L.O. in a fashion that has to be seen to be believed!  This certainly is a unique view of this typically "classical" subject matter.

4 comments:

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  2. Artists often reflect the struggles and triumphs of human character through their works. In a lot of ways I believe that this is the sincerest form of art that there is. Though a work may seem personal at first glance, on further examination the viewer is able to see that the artist touches upon universal themes. Even if a piece is strictly personal, do we really need to place less emphasis on the individual when the religion of our time is belief in the individual?

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  3. I didn't know muses wore leg-warmers...

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