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Pastimes : A CENTURY OF LIONS/THE 20TH CENTURY TOP 100 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neocon who wrote (2838)	5/16/2000 2:41:00 PM
From: Raymond Clutts	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3246

Yes, I agree that the issue of freedom is central to the various explorations of the group mind concept. Consider Heinlein's novel, "The Puppetmasters" and it's quite explicit that surrendering your own will is tantamount to death (and for the film adaptation of which someone will surely burn in hell if there is a just God with decent literary sensibilities). I love the Dutch masters and have spent long hours staring at some of those contained in the Chicago Art Institute before turning away and concluding that their ability to render detail was deeper than my eye's ability to perceive it. It doesn't have to be meaningful and like the butterfly it can be beautiful for its own sake and that's more than enough in and of itself. Once again, I willingly concede that I lack an educated appreciation of modern art and am willing to acknowledge that you have a superior appreciation of its context and content. I am largely speculating about why I have such a visceral dislike for nearly all of its manifestations. Maybe that amounts to nothing more than, "I know what I like Martha and that sure ain't it..." You commented that: "However, the idea is that the artist conceives the conditions under which the art will be created, and selects those pieces to show, rather than that he demonstrate a skill, like a juggler. And in reading your expositions of how best to assess modern art, I think I've realized that in part I like art that was accessible because it's my assumption that the artist is trying to convey some message with meaning and as a pitifully constrained monolinguist I just wish that he'd do so in English and speak up a little as I'm getting hard of hearing. I'm not interested in immersing myself in Esperanto just to obtain the benefit of bilingual acculturation. But what really annoys me about modern art is that even if I did learn Esperanto the message would be a blank page or a cipher since most modernists eschew any absolute values as evidence of a bourgeoisie mentality. They don't really believe that their art or any art should continue to adhere to any moral or ethical precepts. I'd be happier learning the conventions and trying to sound out the words in Esperanto if I were at least convinced that someone said something of interest or merit once I was done.