Sta.sh
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"There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. If one could but recall his vision by some sort of sign. It was in this hope that the arts were invented. Sign-posts on the way to what may be. Sign-posts towards greater knowledge." - Robert Hernri
The world is a most beautiful place by design, but sometimes it is shrouded in a thick coat of "the usual". You know... the usual dirty streets, the usual filthy air, the usual concrete buildings with no sense of aesthetics, the usual people who never smile, the usual garish billboard ads, and the usual folks who have settled with "just getting by". I find all this "usual" to be very depressing. What's worse is, it seems to be contagious.
It is in these most "usual" circumstances in which I truly begin to realize the value of art. Art, as the pursuit of beauty, stands as an ideal for more than what is simply necessary to get by. It separates us from the beasts of the Earth, evokes our passion for living, and defies mortality. Where there is all function without form, there is only life without living.
-Lane
PS- My art is most often inspired by the beauty of the world, and therefore it is to my great benefit that there is much beauty to be found in creation!
-- Mitch
-- Mitch
I suppose I cast the "usual" in a pretty negative light with my wording. I meant the "usual" as it pertains to the absence of art or the pursuit of beauty in society. Sure, even the usual battered trashcan may look most spectacular in the right lighting. My contempt is toward the modernist tendency to ignore aesthetics all together. This to me, is the product of a culture that can't stop long enough to observe the beautiful within the mundane. And so, the value of art is revealed!
Long live the Rebellion!
I agree - and I do art because I am BORED with the mundane - having said that, sometimes mundane needs to inspire creativity to make a better world
Great journal entry!
I think "usual" is only subjective. Things are only as mundane as one wants them to be. I think there's something lovely about "the usual". Ofttimes people tries too hard to search for something special, when there are many lovely things to be appreciated around them.
I'll share a little story here. See, I was born in this city in China, and unfortunately the sewer system in our city wasn't all that great. Plus the city is very busy, so there's always some sort of smell on the street no matter where you go. When I moved to Canada, I forgot how my home city smells like.
When I went back for a visit, as we passed the street near our old home, I smelt a bit of stench from the sewer (it wasn't terrible, actually), then a few steps later, I smell the delicious smell from the local bakery, and a few steps later, roast chicken. All the smells somehow mix and blend together. And that moment everything came back to me. It was the smell that I smelt everyday when I walk to school as a child. It was the first time I felt so at home during my visit back. The smell wasn't necessarily pleasant, but to me, personally, it was beautiful and nostalgic.
But to the people that normally lives there, it was "the usual", and probably a bit of a nuisance too.
So yes, it's great that the world is so beautiful. I think, ofttimes we just have to see it.