In a message dated 12/5/13 7:02:44 PM, [email protected] writes:
> In manufacturing of stuff for everyday
> life, from blue jeans to skyscrapers it's often said that things are made
> only
> as well as they need to be made, mindful of practical and economic
> purposes.
> But in art it's often presumed that artworks, of whatever medium, are made
> as
> well as they can be made, serving, presumably some higher, "aesthetic"
> goal or
> purpose. By 'made' I mean also 'express'. Does aesthetic experience
> require a notion of the best, of the best, aiming at the best, of the
> highest
> order, as well is it can be, etc., even if no one knows beforehand what
> might
> exemplify the best as a state of mind?
>
I leave it to you, William, to articulate just why you do this and that
thing as you create a given painting. I once wrote a book about the writing
and
editing of novels. I said that to achieve the effects wanted -- from
choosing a single word all the way up to creating the "master effect" wanted
in
the book as a whole -- three factors ruled: (1) Craft (lotsa "rules" about
that: "avoid premature flashback: don't expect readers to be interested in a
character's background before you've made them interested in his foreground";
"make no promises to readers you're not prepared to keep"; "don't name a
character who will never appear again ('he bought four beers from the
barkeeper, Joe Hotchkiss')" -- that sort of thing.
(2) Creative invention. (3) Sensibility. My last line in the section on
this was: "In an adult the lack of sensibility is incurable; it cannot be
taught."
I think all three factors are needed for worthy accomplishments in every
genre. But each form has its own possibilities and restraints. The film maker
is constrained by money considerations or availability of the desired
actors. The playwright cannot have much hope for production of a five hour
play.
The tv writer can't revise and revise: He has to get next week's filming
script in by Monday of this week etc.
I love it when I find myself cooing about what an artist just did: "What
made her think of it?!"
