Art and Suffering

[Byrne]

Hmmm I cannot see art is that important to me, or to
those who are suffering, given the choice of art or oxygen I would take oxygen every time
I do prefer Daizan's take on art that it is Joy and loses something when the joy of the doing is lacking.

sat2day

It's not an either/or situation. The first noble truth sets the stage. Art is a nice way to process it. It's a joy to create art, but often the inspiration comes from a very painful place. You don't have to be so literal. You don't have to intellectually understand what's being expressed. You just express it. The best stuff reveals its meaning to the artist over time.

Gassho

Sat Today

[Stev]

Hmmm I cannot see art is that important to me, or to
those who are suffering, given the choice of art or oxygen I would take oxygen every time
I do prefer Daizan's take on art that it is Joy and loses something when the joy of the doing is lacking.

sat2day

[Jika]

And yes, you made art by being here in this universe.

[Myosha]

From an interview with the wonderful Jane Hirshfield in Tricycle:

"We make art, I believe, partly because our lives are ungraspable, uncarryable, impossible to navigate without it. Even our joys are vanishing things, subject to transience. How, then, could there be any beauty without some awareness of loss, of suffering? The surprising thing is that the opposite is also true, that suffering leads us to beauty the way thirst leads us to water.

In the midst of suffering, we almost have no choice. We have to feel and acknowledge it. It demands response. Art offers a way not only to face grief, face pain, but also to soften grief's and pain's faces, which turn back toward us, listening in turn, when we speak to them in the language of story and music and image.

Art isn't a superficial addition to our lives; it's as necessary as oxygen. Amid the cliffs and abysses every life brings, art allows us to find a way to agree to suffering, to include it and not be broken, to say yes to what actually is, and then to say something further, something that changes and opens the heart, the ears, the eyes, the mind."


Gassho
Kokuu
#sattoday (but sadly made no art)

Amen.

Thank you for the moment.


Gassho
Myosha sat today

[RichardH]

In my experience art is Joy. It is a Joy based activity, that is about letting go into free-play. This joy is a heightened energy, with heightened faculties and abilities, that can't be coerced or forced, but comes like grace. The subject matter may be dark, but there is joy in the visual turn-of-phrase, and in the process. When art becomes a compulsion, or slavish, it is can be seen in the turn-of-phrase, in the gesture of the paint. The lack of joy is visible. So I'd say Art is about Joy.

Gassho
Daizan


sat today

[Kyonin]

Hi Kokuu

Art is such an important part of human life and so often overlooked by the rushing people in the cities. We need art just as we need oxygen. But at the same time it's sad to see how so many people seem to embrace ugliness and actually consume it like candy.

And yes, you made art by being here in this universe.

Gassho,

Kyonin
#SatToday

[Kokuu]

From an interview with the wonderful Jane Hirshfield in Tricycle:

"We make art, I believe, partly because our lives are ungraspable, uncarryable, impossible to navigate without it. Even our joys are vanishing things, subject to transience. How, then, could there be any beauty without some awareness of loss, of suffering? The surprising thing is that the opposite is also true, that suffering leads us to beauty the way thirst leads us to water.

In the midst of suffering, we almost have no choice. We have to feel and acknowledge it. It demands response. Art offers a way not only to face grief, face pain, but also to soften grief's and pain's faces, which turn back toward us, listening in turn, when we speak to them in the language of story and music and image.

Art isn't a superficial addition to our lives; it's as necessary as oxygen. Amid the cliffs and abysses every life brings, art allows us to find a way to agree to suffering, to include it and not be broken, to say yes to what actually is, and then to say something further, something that changes and opens the heart, the ears, the eyes, the mind."


Gassho
Kokuu
#sattoday (but sadly made no art)