Art is...

Just read several blogs this a.m. All made some mention of the essential role of art.

Look at two of these statements...two pensees...

The job of art is to chase ugliness away. ~ Bono

Art is the last defense against death. ~Andre Malraux

What are we to make of these statements?

Well in some ways they are saying the same thing.

To re-cast it we first have to admit that death is inevitable. Hemingway said "All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true story teller who would keep that from you."

So Art will not defend us from death. Ugliness? Perhaps, but not death.

What it defends us against is meaninglessness. It is, as Ernest Becker pointed out so fully in The Denial of Death, a hopeful protest against meaninglessness and death.

And it works. Van Gogh still lives and walks among us. So does Hemingway, and Becker. Some day the human race will mourn the loss of Bono. It is inevitable.

So in the same interview, wanna know what Bono also said about art?

Our definition of art is putting your head above the parapet, and be ready for the custard pie. I happen to love the taste of it.

There is a man who truly understands.

Add your comments and questions. Have fun. It's your only dime. Use it.