Visual art and writing don't exist on an aesthetic hierarchy that positions one above the other, because each is capable of things the other can't do at all. Sometimes one picture is equal to 30 pages of discourse, just as there are things images are completely incapable of communicating.
Interpretation
Visual art and writing are equally valuable forms of expression, each with unique strengths and limitations.
William S. Burroughs emphasizes that visual art and writing serve different purposes and are not in competition with one another. Each medium has its unique capabilities and can communicate ideas and emotions in ways the other cannot, illustrating the importance of both forms of expression in conveying complex human experiences.
In practice
In a discussion about the value of different art forms, one could use this quote to argue against the idea that one form is superior.
God save the Queen and a fascist regime … a flabby toothless fascism, to be sure. Never go too far in any direction, is the basic law on which Limey-Land is built. The Queen stabilizes the whole sinking shithouse and keeps a small elite of wealth and privilege on top. The English have gone soft in the outhouse. England is like some stricken beast too stupid to know it is dead. Ingloriously foundering in its own waste products, the backlash and bad karma of empire
Like most qualities, cuteness is delineated by what it isn't. Most people aren't cute at all, or if so they quickly outgrow their cuteness ... Elegance, grace, delicacy, beauty, and a lack of self-consciousness: a creature who knows he is cute soon isn't.
There is nothing more provocative than minding your own business.
Gentle reader, the Fountain of Youth is radioactive, and those who imbibe its poisonous heavy waters will suffer the hideous fate of decaying metal. Yet almost without exception, the wretched idiot inhabitants of our benighted planet would gulp down this radioactive excrement if it were offered.
Language is a virus from outer space.
One very important aspect of art is that it makes people aware of what they know and don’t know they know... Once the breakthrough is made, there is a permanent expansion of awareness. But there is always a reaction of rage, of outrage, at the first breakthrough... So the artist, then, expands awareness. And once the breakthrough is made, this becomes part of the general awareness.
To be of mixed blood is a great gift for a writer. I have one foot on tribal lands and one foot in middle-class life.
Doctors can heal the body, but it is music that uplifts the spirit.
Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue
The most extraordinary discoveries are made when the artist is overwhelmed by what he has to say.
One can be a great poet and be politically stupid.
Painting does more than just point to things. The very act of pointing is a value statement.
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