The Function Of Art

A friend of mine said: Energy follows thought. Which reminds me of a man working in a bike shop that she and her husband met some years ago. He said, when riding you may see a crack in the road, one your wheel could catch and send you reeling. If you look at that crack you will hit it, but if you see the crack without staring straight at it then you will avoid it. 

  I thought of a compelling quote by T.S. Elliot, something that might tie in with the bicycle mechanic and the cracks.  Elliot was speaking of the nature of art, in his case poetry, yet his statement applies to all the arts as well. The most important part, for me, (below) is colored in red,, and is about seeing out of the corner of your eye. This form of indirect "seeing" allows one freedom from confrontation. The result is that one may just touch something universal. Indirect "seeing" does not negate instinct nor the active role of the intellect which should check all our impulses. The truth, if you will allow me such a thing, often comes at us from the side. When we try to confront it head on we are often at odds, indisposed to receive a surprise. Like a crab, who moves sideways, the best route to knowing may be more ambiguous,, perhaps like the accidental discovery of something beautiful while alone in the silent dark if we unleash the mind to wander about sifting memory while bumping into random thought. What may emerge could be a new perspective.

     "It is the function of all art to give us some perception of an order in life, by imposing an order upon it. The painter works by selection, combination, and emphasis among the elements of the visible world; the musician in the world of sound. It seems to me that beyond the nameable, classifiable emotions and motives of our conscious life when directed towards action–the part of life which prose drama is wholly adequate to express—there is a fringe of indefinite extent, of feeling which we can only detect, so to speak, out of the corner of the eye. 

     There is a way to drink liquor that is non-confrontational. When I am drinking tequila or mezcal. If I allow my throat to directly encounter the passing of the liquor it is defiant and it burns,, but if it passes on the side so to speak it posesses the lingering flavor of almonds.