Chess is no whit inferior to the violin, and we have a large number of professional violinists
Mikhail BotvinnikRead
There really is no such thing as art. There are only artists.
Interpretation
The essence of art lies not in the creations themselves, but in the individuals who create them.
Ernst Gombrich’s quote emphasizes that art should not be viewed as an isolated entity or abstract concept, but rather as a product of human expression and creativity. It suggests that each artist brings their unique perspective and experiences into their work, thereby making the artist the true focal point of what we consider 'art'.
In practice
During a gallery opening, one might say this quote to spark a discussion about the role of the artist in the interpretation of art.
Chess is no whit inferior to the violin, and we have a large number of professional violinists
Anything that's made by humans is about humans, whether it's about gods or aliens or anything; it's about some sort of expressive nature about us.
I know this is going to sound very self-serving, and I apologize for it, but if you can write comedy, you can pretty much write anything, because it's the hardest. It's the most technically demanding, the most precisely evaluated form of writing. People know if it works or not. There's a big button marked 'fail,' and that's when nobody laughs.
When the words come, they are merely empty shells without the music. They live as they are sung, for the words are the body and the music the spirit.
The idea that a poem was a made thing stayed with me, and I decided then that I wanted to be an artist, not just a diarist. So I put myself through a kind of apprenticeship in writing poetry, and I understood even then that my practice as a poet was deeply related to my reading.
But as I grew up as a child, falling in love with the theater and Shakespeare, my heroes were Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir John Gielgud.
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