Friday, July 8, 2011

art as lie

Of all lies, art is the least untrue

- Glaubert

Many knowledgeable people speak of the truths of the arts,of a work of art as being true to life, or even of great art as laying bare the deepest truths of the universe. Returning once again to the realm of statements, some commentators have proposed a felicitous way of thinking about works of art—as "authentic" or "inauthentic." We should not think of plays or poetry or paintings as attempting to capture life in the manner of a physicist or a reporter. Rather, we should think of these works of art as capturing some aspect of life, the world, the human condition, in a way that is effective and powerful and (as I'll argue) beautiful—even if the particular vehicles happen to have been contrived or invented out of whole cloth. I resonate to the words of Pablo Picasso:

We all know that art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth, at least the truth that is given us to understand. The artist must know the manner whereby to convince others of the truthfulness of his lies.

- Howard Gardner


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