The musician is perhaps the most modest of animals, but he is also the proudest. It is he who invented the sublime art of ruining poetry.
Erik SatieRead
Before I compose a piece, I walk round it several times, accompanied by myself.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of contemplation and reflection before creating art.
Erik Satie's quote suggests that the creative process involves not just the act of composing, but also a period of introspection and observation. By walking around the piece, he metaphorically describes the necessity of understanding the essence of the work from multiple angles, allowing for a deeper connection between the artist and the art itself.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the creative process at an art school.
The musician is perhaps the most modest of animals, but he is also the proudest. It is he who invented the sublime art of ruining poetry.
The commentator may be excused for repeating what he has stressed in his own books and lectures, namely that "offensive" is frequently but a synonym for "unusual;" and a great work of art is of course always original, and thus by its very nature should come more or less as a shocking surprise.
As an artist, I want to interpret my feelings - not run across the street and ask what my mother thinks.
In my writing, as much as I could, I tried to find the good, and praise it.
The ultimate aim of all artistic activity is building! ... Architects, sculptors, painters, we must all get back to craft! ... The artist is a heightened manifestation of the craftsman. ... Let us form ... a new guild of craftsmen without the class divisions that set out to raise an arrogant barrier between craftsmen and artists! ... Let us together create the new building of the future which will be all in one: architecture and sculpture and painting.
People ask me if I ever thought of writing a children's book. I say, 'If I had a serious brain injury I might well write a children's book', but otherwise the idea of being conscious of who you're directing the story to is anathema to me, because, in my view, fiction is freedom and any restraints on that are intolerable.
The great poet is always a seer, seeing less with the eyes of the body than he does with the eyes of the mind.
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