In Still Wonder – At Principle Gallery, Alexandria
Philosophy, if it cannot answer so many questions as we could wish, has at least the power of asking questions which increase the interest of the world, and show the strangeness and wonder lying just below the surface even in the commonest things of daily life.
–Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy (1912)
I like this passage from Bertrand Russell. Though it deals with philosophy, I find myself applying it to art as well. For one thing, art often allows us to see the wonder that is present in the ordinary. Some of the most powerful and moving works of art revolve around common things, the artist imbuing them with a quality that enhances the wonder of their singularity.
I have also found that art, like philosophy, often provides more questions than answers. We often think of art as making declarative statements. And some does just that in a very straightforward way.
But there is also the work that stirs us a bit deeper. We see the apparent beauty but also see something beyond that surface appearance, something that brings forth emotions that belie what is in front of us. It sparks memories from our past experiences along with glimpses of our hopes and fears for the future. It transports us into the timeless world of wonder where it is always in the present moment.
The Now.
And in the stillness of The Now, questions arise that may have long simmered beneath our own surface, questions that we have not had time to even recognize in the past.
The answers to these questions may not be apparent in the work of art from which they sprung. There may not be an answer at all. But maybe just being made aware of the wonder of our existence by these questions is their sole purpose.
Art, like philosophy, leads to a deeper questioning which perhaps opens us up to finding that sense wonder that exists in the ordinary, transporting us to The Ever-present Now.
Sound good to me but what do I know?
Maybe sometimes a painting is just a painting and a cigar is just a cigar. The smoke is in the eyes of the beholder?
Redtree Times 