To some, the past is home to a golden age, and our duty today is to get back to the values thereof and start over from that point. To others, the past is a repository of vicious social standards that need to be drop-kicked into oblivion. Art is invention. It’s visionary and irrational. Artists don’t always mean it to be, but once they float their creations out to where the rest of us can get at them, they loose control of the message even if the message is that there is no message (see Vladimir Nabokov). This is because the viewer (reader, listener) will run the artifact through several layers of subjective filters. Art, unlike science, allows the receiver to do that. In the case of science, objectivity is paramount; you may, of course, disagree with a conclusion, but your disagreement must be supported by data. Art? A clever turn of phrase will do. A lot of art is made by people who are nasty or crazy. Like gods, they create from nothing, but one needs to think twice about accepting them as philosophers or role models. When you go to the movies, you don’t have to hand your filters in at the door. If a movie was made in 1932, that fact is part of what you carry in your head while you watch. To appreciate the movie. it’s not essential that you get comfortable with the social norms the film may take for granted. When you catalogue your impressions, double book-keeping is allowed. |