Someone mentioned to me recently that he thought the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was total nonsense. I really didn't know how to respond. I mean, how do you explain that the director knows that everybody knows that people can't fly from tree to tree and a light sword cannot cut a thick bronze spear, but he's put it in anyway to symbolize some things, to a guy who's been brought up on a regular diet of Hollywood action flicks?
You can't really put the movie into any category. The only way in which I could describe the movie is that it's art. The same goes for another chinese movie, called 'The Hero'. I thought it was a really beautiful movie, but one of my friends walked out within fifteen minutes of watching it!
That set me thinking. I just intuitively classified something as art. Does that mean that there are some common characteristics to all art? I don't mean Oscar Wilde's statement "All art is useless". Well, that's also true, but there's got to be more to it! So that brought me back to one word: symbolism. Everything from paintings to sculptures to glass blowing that we bring under the category of art, has something to do with representing things in an abstract way... in our own way. That is why art cannot be spoken of without a connection to the artist.
I remember making a speech in class when I was a kid. I was talking about cooking... and I ended the speech with, "Cooking is more than a science; it is an art." I don't think I knew then how much I said in just that one sentence. In those ten words I said that the cook captures moods and settings in what he cooks; he even puts his stamp as a creative artist by the way in which he combines the ingredients to produce that effect.
Symbolism that draws the observer into a different world... only when you get sucked into that world can you appreciate art.
Cheers,
Prashanth.
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6 comments:
Hi Prashanth..
Very well-written.Moi linked your blog to mine.Keep blogging!!:)
Hi Niya,
Thanks! Wanted to say Moi Aussi, but I don't know how!!! Can you tell me how to do that?
Good one Prashanth.
I'd just like to give this a different twist though.
1. Most of the times we as outsiders do not know the inspiration or the arcane meaning behind the art, so why do we weigh so much importance to the verdict of the so-called critics.
2. Art has become so commercialised these days that even kitsch gets passed off as art.
3. I believe there are two categories of art: art as a form of expression (art for art's sake) and commercial art (for making money) and most of the times the latter is highly overrated and least valuable.
Dude SP,
HERO is one of the my fav movies.I have a DVD of this film and I just love the way the story unfolds..Did you notice the background score and the colors... It changes when each character tells his version of the story.I think it was nominated for the OSCARS.
Yep I know this post was not about the chinese film but about appreciating art..
Well I'll let Kirthi do the commenting. :)
I don't know if anyone will see this comment after all this time, but I'm gonna write it anyway...
Kirthi, to reply to your comments:
1. It is true that when we are new to some field we may not understand all the abstraction in a particular piece of art, which is why we listen to what critics have to say about them. But that is only in order to gain a better appreciation and understanding so that we may then form our own conclusions. Only a person who can't think for himself would place weight in the VERDICT of the critics, the rest read what the critics have to say for the reason stated above.
2. The thing about art is that different people have different tastes. You may find a sculpture hideous, but someone else may like it because it is vivid. So basically, even if 90% of art you see these days is considered "kitsch" by 90% of the people in the world, the other 10% might buy all of it.
3. I don't get the idea of "commercialized" art - sounds like an oxymoron. I mean, I said that a movie may be commercial, or art. If something is already art, it can't be commercial. You better declassify that thing as art and just call it a painting or a sculpture or whatever!
Vc, yes, there were so many things in the manner of narration and the visualization in the movie... not to mention a great script... that I liked. But of course, I didn't describe all that because I wasn't interested in giving a movie review on my blog :)
But, no, I would appreciate it if you, too, continued with commenting, it's nice to know people have similar tastes to mine...
OOPs ...
Sorry about that..
So I as I was saying thanks for replying .. maybe kk will drop by..
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