The Small Painter by Auguste Renoir "Desire has trimmed the sails and circumstance
brings but the breeze to fill them."*
The Small Painter by Auguste Renoir
"Desire has trimmed the sails and circumstance
brings but the breeze to fill them."*
From our vantage on the threshold of the 3rd millennium we can look back
and be thankful for a rich treasury of Art, Science and Religion which has
miraculously taken flight in the minds of millions. How is it that certain works
attain so much lift and become "bigger than life"? These works arise from
incredibly fertile soil and produce (directly or indirectly) a constant stream
of new good works. The activity that spawns these excellent works is what
makes the universe "fly". What is this precious activity?
It begins with longing -- a spiritual hunger. Without a spiritual dimension, a new
work of art might put a meal on the table, but it will not be great art and it will
wither and die. By great art, I mean certain obvious examples, but I also include
an attitude towards living that ordinary people can practice every day to make their
lives rich and meaningful. An obvious example of great art in religion would be the
Gospel according to Saint John. Its fecundity is unsurpassable. It is rooted in truth,
however, it is not literally true in our narrow modern sense of literal. If you do not
understand this, then start over at the beginning of this series and read carefully.
For additional persuasion read Owen Barfield's Saving the Appearances: a study
in idolatry. (I read Owen's book 2 weeks after writing the previous pages. A week
after writing this and the next levels, I learned that Owen peacefully died on Dec. 14,
1997 after 99 eventful years. Here is a web site dedicated to Owen Barfield.)
When idolatry is recognized, we maintain the distance between what is simple and
insipid and what is the "otherside", the "unrepresented", the "uncarved block".
The "otherside" is then uncontaminated by our limited thoughts; it is free of
material dross and shines undiminished. Our creativity can then make a clean entrance.
"Beyond Photography" is a title partly inspired by a beautiful essay by Owen Barfied
called "The Camera and the [aeolean] Harp" in his book The Rediscovery of Meaning
which he wanted to name The Recovery of Meaning. Here is a quote (from p. 76)
"Our science is almost entirely a camera science. . . .
our poetry has become, for the most part, camera poetry. . . .
Where, one asks, has the music gone? Where has the wind gone
that sweeps the music into being, the hagion pneuma, the ruach elohim?
It really does feel as though the camera had won hands down
and smashed the harp to pieces."
There are many ways to learn that truth is not literal. This is because this lesson lies
in one of those especially fertile fields. Here is a translation from Michelangelo's poetry.
Love, your beauty is not a mortal thing:
there is no face among us that can equal
the image in the heart, which you kindle and sustain
with another fire and stir with other wings.*
Before probing deeper into the secret of great art, let's touch upon a few more examples.
In mathematics, a great work of art was the discovery of calculus by Sir Isaac Newton
(1642-1727) and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646-1716). They arrived upon it from
different directions and immediately knew that they had touched upon something
wonderful. Since then, everyone who uses calculus is astounded by its extreme
fertility in generating new mathematics and in uncovering beautiful relations
between matter, electricity and magnetism and even space and time. This great
art connects to the physical world with an astonishing degree of fidelity. At its
core, there lurks a profound mystery concerning "the unreasonable effectiveness
of mathematics in the physical sciences" (E. Wigner, 1960).
For great art in painting, we have Vincent van Gogh.
For great art in literature, I'll mention J.R. Tolkien's ring
series since I want you to keep in mind: "sub-creation".
For a musical example of sub-creation, consider Beethoven's
9th symphony. Like most all music, it doesn't sound like nature,
but it builds from nature and is structured in the manner of nature.
At its core is a simple folk melody that Beethoven developed in
astounding ways. He lifted nature (including mankind) and gave
life to life. Sub-created art is inspired by life and augments it.
Its creation and reception make the universe "fly".
When creating art, one must wish to do more than simply copy or echo nature.
We have machines that can do that, and nature herself keeps in store innumerable
copies of herself. Great music has rhythm, songs and movement in the manner of
nature, but not literally like nature. Great art is both old and new at the same time.
Why do certain activities flourish? How do we account for their "unreasonable
effectiveness"? What vein have they struck? What makes them seem redolent
and fresh? The last question is the easiest to answer. The freshness comes from the
activity not being done literally! Otherwise, it is old hat and doesn't penetrate to the
otherside. If it is done literally, then it has no spiritual dimension, and no enduring
truth. Simple representations and mindless abstractions fall short of experience;
they drain away what little life they have.
Great Art cannot simply mirror nature or life. In "many hued reflection we live".
The profound challenge is well posed in these cryptic lines by Yeats (1865-1939)
It must go further still: that soul must become its own betrayer,
Its own deliverer, the one activity, the mirror turn lamp.
This is a call for the end of "camera science" and reminiscent of "Ye are the light
of the world" (Mat 5:14). It is not enough for an artist to simply reflect; instead
he must be a lamp and extend our capacity to see. The evolution from being a mirror
to being a lamp is welcomed by artists, though many mistake it as an invitation for
free play. For scientists though, the transformation appears to violate their profession's
objectivity. The goal of science is to be a mirror, not a lamp. However, quantum physics
has cracked the mirror. There is no single image for what is "out there". Nature's
irreducible quantum of action causes qualitatively different results to occur if one
reverses the order of simple measurements. A scientist's role in these experiments
is hardly mirror-like. Instead of reflecting what is already present, he behaves more
like a creative source of wind and light. He co-creates with nature.
This surprising lesson of the quantum has come just in time.
There are many to whom the idea of a world without purpose,
except what we and our fellow men agree upon,
comes at first as a dreadful shock. Later comes the
feeling of challenge; and then at last an inspiration:
a feeling that we who felt ourselves so small amidst it all are,
in the end, the carriers of the central jewel,
the flashing purpose that lights up the whole dark universe.
This quotation is from John Wheeler, the magician who tried to make equations fly
(see level 2). The secret of flight appears to be hidden within us; we can feel it
and explore it in great art. The initial takeoff requires huge amount of personal
initiative. However, once the "bird" is off the ground, an artist should relax a bit,
and let the natural currents assist him or her. "A small vessel on fine lines is likely
to float further than a great raft."* These beneficial currents are alluded to in the
map sketched in level 2, part 2. They account for the unreasonable effectiveness
of our small endeavors.
How do we get "the bird" off the ground?
Click on the wizard to take a bold leap.
Web surfers who have wormholed directly to this level could profit
by exploring the levels they have missed. Click below to jump to
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