Seasons of the Moon - Beauty & The Beast (Ohr Somayach)
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The Jewish year seen through its months
Beauty & The Beast
Kislev 5763
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Beauty & The Beast
Every time we celebrate Chanuka, we are re-affirming our stand against
a world that values youth, beauty and physical and intellectual prowess
above all. A world bequeathed to us by the Greeks.
Art is the ideology of beauty. The Greeks, both ancient and modern,
hold great store by the power of art to take us beyond the surface of
things, to bring us into contact with life's spiritual realities, to
express the underlying truths of existence. This is the philosophy of
art. Beauty leads to truth. Beauty is truth.
ART STORE
_________
But art is a funny thing. This week's flash is next week's trash.
This week's beauty becomes next week's hideosity. This week's corny and
trite becomes next week's cutting edge.
If beauty is truth, how come "beauty" changes so rapidly? No truth that
changes can be true. A truth that changes must mean that either: a) it
wasn't true before or b) it isn't true now, or c) it was never true.
Truth's clearest identifying property is that it is unchanging. If
"beauty is truth" why is art about as immune to fashion as a Paris
couture house?
Another thing, artists are notoriously eccentric and self-indulgent.
Without wishing to give undue seriousness to their foibles, could there
something more to their excesses than meets the eye?
THE BEAUTY BARRIER
__________________
Why does art's definition of beauty change? Beauty is a physical thing
and the physical world has its limits. There are just so many ways you
can paint a tree. There are just so many ways you can photograph the
shadow of a net curtain on a window sill. Beauty is a physical thing, a
finite thing. Sooner rather than later you bump up against the limits
of beauty, of that particular vision of beauty, and where will you go
then? There's nowhere to go except to break the beauty barrier, reverse
the polarity and embrace and celebrate everything that up till now has
been ugly. You can do this in an evolutionary way and nibble at the
edges of ugliness, or you can dive in at the deep end. You can tear up
everything that has just been and tar it with the feather of being
bourgeois, the ultimate art crime.
ISM-ISM
_______
Whichever way you get there, however, the search for beauty ultimately
leads the Greek to the ugly, the bizarre and the perverted. In a
nutshell, this is the history of art. Realism, Cubism, Modernism,
post-Modernism, every 'ism' in art shares one thing in common: Each
claims to have replaced the former totally and made it forever
redundant.
A FICKLE GODDESS
________________
Art is a fickle goddess.
If beauty is truth, it means that the Greek definition of truth is as
negotiable as each version of its beauty is changeable.
The Jew says to the Greek that an infinitely malleable truth means no
truth at all. A constantly metamorphosing beauty means no beauty at
all.
The Jew doesn't have this problem. His beauty is as unchanging as his
truth. The hidden truths of the Torah are called kabala. The word,
quite simply, means receiving. In every generation, the truths of
existence are handed down and received by the greatest and the holiest.
There is no need to bang up against the brick walls of the physical
world, stretching and torturing the physical to its limits and beyond,
for everything has already been received.
Beauty too, is not a process of pushing the edges of the envelope of
ugliness.
"By His breath the Heavens are spread (shifra)" (Iyov 26:13).
G-d spreads aside the curtain of cloud to reveal that which is beyond.
He disperses the clouds that conceal so we can see past the
obstruction, past the surface. The word for spread, shifra, has the
same root as shapir which means to beautify. In Jewish thought, beauty
is seeing past the surface to the essence. That which is beautiful, by
definition, is that which takes us beyond the clouds, to reveal the
truth. Just as the Torah's truth is unchanging, so too is its beauty.
Similarly, the word for ugly and opaque in Hebrew are the same - achur.
By definition something which conceals is ugly; it can never be next
week's beauty.
FLIRTING WITH UGLINESS
______________________
Just as the Greek pursuit of beauty inevitably leads to ugliness, so
too those who aspire to live their lives as the artists of this beauty
will seek to ride the edge of the envelope of acceptable social
behavior, partly because of nothing more sophisticated that lust and
indulgence, partly because of something more subtle.
The indulgence of the artist in his personal life, comes from his own
desire to push the "beauty barrier", to reach beyond the real world in
an attempt to connect to those same truths that he hopes his art will
express.
In much the same way as art is always flirting with ugliness, so the
artist is always flirting with a world of indulgence and illusion. He
sees this freedom as an essential part of his art. He says he must be
free and unconstrained to tune into the myriad possibilities of the
cosmos from which he will pluck his artistic inspiration. He must be
open to perceive where the next cycle of roulette wheel of the beauty
will come to a stop. To the Jew however, his freedom is slavery.
Slavery to the senses and their agenda. A slavery that limits the
permutations of creation to the mind.
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
__________________
The Mishna in Avot (6:2) teaches that " 'The tablets were G-d's
handiwork and the script was G-d's script, engraved (charut) on the
tablets' Don't read the word as charut, read it as cheirut (freedom),
because you can have no freer person than one who is involved in the
learning of Torah."
Ostensibly, this idea is self-contradictory. The Torah is a set of laws
which govern and constrain the actions of a person 24-hours a day, from
birth till death. Shouldn't the Mishna more accurately have written
that you can have no more captive a person than one who is involved in
the learning of the Torah?
The answer is simple. There is no greater prisoner than he who lives in
a world of illusion, for his is a world from which there is no escape.
You cannot escape from a world of illusion, because it doesn't exist.
Something that doesn't exist has no exit.
The Torah is the truth. The truth obliges. Nothing is more compelling
than the truth. The truth compels you to act a certain way. The truth
restricts.
But the truth is also the only real freedom.
LEARNING TO LIGHT
_________________
we have burned
the midnight oil
for You
our minds
twisting and turning
through corridors
of logic
long-since abandoned
by their workers.
and like gold miners
with blackened egos
we emerged from the pits
clasping to our breasts
the whitest dove,
the love of Your Word.
=====================================
Written and compiled by Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair
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Steve G.
> * SEASONS OF THE MOON *
> from Ohr Somayach | www.ohr.edu
>
> The Jewish year seen through its months
>
> Beauty & The Beast
> Kislev 5763
>
Someone with a deep lack of understanding was quoted by Moshe as
follows:
> Art is the ideology of beauty. The Greeks, both ancient and modern,
> hold great store by the power of art to take us beyond the surface of
> things, to bring us into contact with life's spiritual realities, to
> express the underlying truths of existence. This is the philosophy of
> art. Beauty leads to truth. Beauty is truth.
Nope. Wrong. That's not what art's about. Talk about strawmen... The
rest of this little diatribe fails miserably as a result.
Then we get to this:
>
> The Jew doesn't have this problem. His beauty is as unchanging as his
> truth. The hidden truths of the Torah are called kabala. The word,
> quite simply, means receiving. In every generation, the truths of
> existence are handed down and received by the greatest and the holiest.
> There is no need to bang up against the brick walls of the physical
> world, stretching and torturing the physical to its limits and beyond,
> for everything has already been received.
>
This is one of the most hideous bits of philosophy I've ever read. I'm
mortified. I'm horrified. I'm appalled.
I recongize that the above sentiment is NOT consistent with
philosophies that some O posters have stated previously, thus I
conclude that the above represents a minority opinion. Hopefully a
small minority.
"The Jew doesn't have this problem..."
I'm fuming - I can't even type.
--sg
Fiona
"Steve G." <alfief...@yahoo.com> wrote
> mos...@mm.huji.ac.il quoted:
> > * SEASONS OF THE MOON *
> > from Ohr Somayach | www.ohr.edu
> >
> > The Jewish year seen through its months
> >
> > Beauty & The Beast
> > Kislev 5763
> >
>
> Someone with a deep lack of understanding was quoted by Moshe as
> follows:
>
> > Art is the ideology of beauty. The Greeks, both ancient and modern,
> > hold great store by the power of art to take us beyond the surface of
> > things, to bring us into contact with life's spiritual realities, to
> > express the underlying truths of existence. This is the philosophy of
> > art. Beauty leads to truth. Beauty is truth.
>
> Nope. Wrong. That's not what art's about. Talk about strawmen... The
> rest of this little diatribe fails miserably as a result.
Steve, I have got to agree with you completely (a rare thing). The author
knows nothing of art and makes a complete fool of himself. It's embarrassing
really. I'd be interested to know from where he derived his art=beauty=truth
theory, erm, actually no, I don't really care, because as he is totally
against "intellectual prowess" (as apparently all good Jews are) obviously
he hasn't even thought about what he is saying. Thinking might lead to being
intellectual, and that might lead to being artistic, which of course is all
about beauty, which is Greek, and they...
> Then we get to this:
> >
> > The Jew doesn't have this problem. His beauty is as unchanging as his
> > truth. The hidden truths of the Torah are called kabala. The word,
> > quite simply, means receiving. In every generation, the truths of
> > existence are handed down and received by the greatest and the holiest.
> > There is no need to bang up against the brick walls of the physical
> > world, stretching and torturing the physical to its limits and beyond,
> > for everything has already been received.
> >
> This is one of the most hideous bits of philosophy I've ever read. I'm
> mortified. I'm horrified. I'm appalled.
That's not philosophy, it's an eight letter word beginning in B and ending
in T. Anyway his entire theory is based on the false premise that
art=beauty=truth. So it wasn't going to amout to much in the first place. I
wonder how he reconciles his anti-intellectualism with the reality of all
those yeshiva bahurim spending 14 hours a day argueing of minutae in the
gemara? But, oh, I shouldn't wonder should I? Thinking might lead to being
intellectual, and that might lead to being artistic, which of course is all
about beauty, which is Greek, and they...
> I recongize that the above sentiment is NOT consistent with
> philosophies that some O posters have stated previously, thus I
> conclude that the above represents a minority opinion. Hopefully a
> small minority.
A yachid I would hope.
> "The Jew doesn't have this problem..."
>
> I'm fuming - I can't even type.
Don't take it so hard, he just spelled Ludite wrong, that's all.
Fiona
Fred Rosenblatt
> "Steve G." <alfief...@yahoo.com> wrote
> > mos...@mm.huji.ac.il quoted:
> > > * SEASONS OF THE MOON *
> > > from Ohr Somayach | www.ohr.edu
> > >
> > > The Jewish year seen through its months
> > >
> > > Beauty & The Beast
> > > Kislev 5763
> > >
> >
> > Someone with a deep lack of understanding was quoted by Moshe as
> > follows:
> >
> > > Art is the ideology of beauty. The Greeks, both ancient and modern,
> > > hold great store by the power of art to take us beyond the surface of
> > > things, to bring us into contact with life's spiritual realities, to
> > > express the underlying truths of existence. This is the philosophy of
> > > art. Beauty leads to truth. Beauty is truth.
> >
> > Nope. Wrong. That's not what art's about. Talk about strawmen... The
> > rest of this little diatribe fails miserably as a result.
>
> Steve, I have got to agree with you completely (a rare thing). The author
> knows nothing of art and makes a complete fool of himself. It's embarrassing
> really. I'd be interested to know from where he derived his art=beauty=truth
> theory, erm, actually no, I don't really care, because as he is totally
> against "intellectual prowess" (as apparently all good Jews are) obviously
> he hasn't even thought about what he is saying.
I don't generally comment on philosophy, but I have wondered on occasion
where the line betwee art and the artist's life lies. When I read of
famous artists who were absolutely reprehensible in their private lives,
ruining the lives of their friends and families, I wonder how, no matter
how valuable their are is said to be, they can teach us anything about life
when they obviously haven't learned anything about it themselves.
Steven Goldfarb
Fiona wrote:
>> Steve, I have got to agree with you completely (a rare thing). The author
>> knows nothing of art and makes a complete fool of himself. It's embarrassing
>> really. I'd be interested to know from where he derived his art=beauty=truth
>> theory, erm, actually no, I don't really care, because as he is totally
>> against "intellectual prowess" (as apparently all good Jews are) obviously
>> he hasn't even thought about what he is saying.
Fiona, I'm glad we're able to find some common ground. As always, I
suspect that if we met in person, rather than in the inherently
contentious forum that is a NG, we'd probably get along quite well.
>I don't generally comment on philosophy, but I have wondered on occasion
>where the line betwee art and the artist's life lies. When I read of
>famous artists who were absolutely reprehensible in their private lives,
>ruining the lives of their friends and families, I wonder how, no matter
>how valuable their are is said to be, they can teach us anything about life
>when they obviously haven't learned anything about it themselves.
Generally speaking, I think the work speaks for itself, and the private
life of the creator isn't relevant. Having said that, though, I think
there are times when an artist's life might be so notorious that it does
impact the resonance that his or her work has - that the life becomes part
of the context, either positively or negatively.
For example, a sketch by John Lennon is, to me, inherently more resonant
than a similar one by an anonymous artist. Conversely, Leni
Refenstahl's (sp?) notority impedes my ability to fully appreciate her
work, even the stuff that has nothing to do with Germany.
But in any case, art isn't really about teaching people about life - I
define art as a human creation that communicates emotion, to the
extent that it does so. That is, it's a continuum -- not a black and white
"yes it's art, no it isn't art."
Works constructed simply to convey beauty aren't art - they're decoration.
Except that it's difficult, particularly in a hand-made piece, to
completely eliminate all expression, so even a decoration can have an
element of art to it. As can something built for its utility.
Also, just because something can fairly be described as "art" doesn't mean
it's any good - there's certainly such a thing as lousy art that is still
undeniably art. Just not any good. Of course, that's a subjective
judgement.
To bring in some Jewish content -- yeah,Woody Allen is probably a pretty
screwed up guy, and Modigliani was probably something of a rogue. Just
read today about how Einstein was probably not a great guy to be married
to. Still, "Crimes and Misdemeanors" is one of the best movies ever made,
Modigliani's work is very powerful, and Einstein wasn't an artist, but
you get my point.
--sg
--
---------------------------------------
Steve Goldfarb Eppur si muove
s...@stevegoldfarb.com (and still, it moves)
http://stevegoldfarb.com/ - Galileo
Fiona
"Fred Rosenblatt" <fre...@juno.com> wrote
There was philosophy discussed in this thread? I didn't see any.
>but I have wondered on occasion
> where the line betwee art and the artist's life lies. When I read of
> famous artists who were absolutely reprehensible in their private lives,
> ruining the lives of their friends and families, I wonder how, no matter
> how valuable their are is said to be, they can teach us anything about
life
> when they obviously haven't learned anything about it themselves.
"Who is wise? He who learns from all men." (Pirke Avot, somewhere)
Was Leonardo deVinci any less a scientic and artistic genius because he was
gay? Was Mozart any less a brilliant composer because he was a little bit
crazy? Or were a certain Dayan in London's halakic rulings any less valid
because he had a tendency to steal valuable and rare books?
While it might be fair to question rules made by that Dayan on theft, there
is no reason to assume anything wrong with rulings about other issues.
Likewise, one might be able to question anything Leonardo might have written
about marriage (I don't think he wrote anything on the subject btw) but what
bearing would his homosexuality have on his ground-breaking and brilliant
work on optics for instance?
Do not seek perfection in others, seek it only in yourself.
And don't expect artists to teach, their role is to make you *feel* and if
they can, to make you think. Art is merely a means of communication.
Fiona