Art and the Context of Society

[youtube width=”500″ height=”400″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm9wt9lrDLQ[/youtube]

Living in a certain place and time, we tend to think within a certain set of values and act upon them as if they are universal. And we use our critical skills to judge ‘everything’.

It is a set of values that is a sum of the whole society, and living by its rules is more or less part of the game. The game of a society that keeps a certain balance between individual desire and the common good.

But that does not mean those values are universal. That they apply everywhere. And in all times.

That just means they are good in a certain context. The context of that specific society. In that specific time in history.

Art is also criticized in the spirit of that age. But one of the characteristics of art is, that it is a search for new patterns that fit in a greater whole, which go beyond the context of that specific society in that specific time.

From the post Creativity beyond Praise and Criticism / Music from Sahara by Camel / Image Source / More Videos

Art and the context of society

2 comments

    1. Yes, I remember reading that piece, really very interesting! And I also very much like your approach with those examples, as well as that you are making it into a series.

      Personally I have this love/hate relationship with examples. I absolutely adore it if others use them. It makes things so much more clear and understandable. But I never get to use them myself. I always see the limitations of each example, edit them out every time and go back to abstraction. At least on my blog.

      Maybe it is a buildin editor, to prevent myself from jumping to conclusions too early, as I tend to do that most of the time. And blogging so far for me has been a way of pulling in some unedited thoughts of others. Getting them on paper as pure as possible and then playing with the words, well something like that.

      But I loved your style in that article and I’m certainly going to read it again. And hope to read the next one soon!

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