I can't even claim I know what this means, entirely. I don't even know that Lawrence did. And I sure don't know how to do it. But I like it. It feels true. And I'm thinking and thinking on it.
"The essential function of art is moral. Not aesthetic, not decorative, not pastime and recreation. But moral. The essential function of art is moral.
But a passionate, implicit morality, not didactic. A morality which changes the blood first. The mind will follow later, in the wake."
3 comments:
gardner/barth.
http://www.citypaper.com/arts/story.asp?id=7447
I guess then sentimentality in art is it's death knell. This is how you define true art? I keep thinking of that Asher Lev novel where he shows the truth about his family in his painting, and this is his great work --the one that "makes him sweat" . Perhaps the gut reaction -the feeling in the blood- couldn't have been produced without this striking presentation? I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't comment on here, I'm just learning from you.
This is a beautiful quote. Thank you. No comments about it yet, but maybe I'll call and we'll talk.
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