The strange power of art is sometimes it can show that what people have in common is more urgent than what differentiates them. It seems to me it's something that theatre can do, but it's rare; it's very rare.
John BergerRead
Drawing is a way of coming upon the connection between things, just like metaphor in poetry reconnects what has become separated.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes how drawing can reveal connections between different ideas or subjects, similar to how metaphors in poetry link disparate concepts.
John Berger suggests that drawing serves as a means of discovering and understanding the relationships between various elements of life and art. Just as metaphors in poetry help to reunite and clarify ideas that may have become disconnected, drawing allows the artist to explore and illustrate the connections that exist within the visual and conceptual world, enriching our understanding and appreciation of both.
Themes
DrawingMetaphorConnectionArtPoetry
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in an art class to inspire students about the deeper meaning behind their drawings.
More from John Berger
All quotes βUnlike any other visual image, a photograph is not a rendering, an imitation or an interpretation of its subject, but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does.
John BergerRead
We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves.
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The camera relieves us of the burden of memory. It surveys us like God, and it surveys for us. Yet no other god has been so cynical, for the camera records in order to forget.
John BergerRead
Propaganda requires a permanent network of communication so that it can systematically stifle reflection with emotive or utopian slogans. Its pace is usually fast.
John BergerRead
Being a unique superpower undermines the military intelligence of strategy. To think strategically, one has to imagine oneself in the enemy's place. If one cannot do this, it is impossible to foresee, to take by surprise, to outflank. Misinterpreting an enemy can lead to defeat. This is how empires fall.
John BergerRead
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