Quote of the Day

[timelets]

“...a great work is distinguished from a folkloric artefact in not being tethered to a particular ‘people’. It raises itself to the ‘universal’; it addresses itself potentially to the whole of humanity.”
...
“The work of art possesses the distinction of speaking to everyone, whatever the time or place in which we live.”

“The work of art worthy its name is neither a local artefact nor is it a universal denuded of touch and taste, as is the product of pure scientific research. And it is to this singularity, this individuality that is neither entirely particular nor entirely universal, that we respond so powerfully.”

--- Luc Ferry. “A Brief History of Thought.”

This sounds plausible on the first read, but is it true? Is this a causal link or just a constitutive relationship? The latter seems to be more probable to me.

Comments

[lxe]

Is greatness an independent measurable indicator?
I think the author is simply introducing a definition.

[olindom]

Interesting subject. There is a definition of time in art too. Art as a reflection of period.

[juan_gandhi]

I got a feeling it goes the opposite way. Least of all the Greeks building Nika to celebrate a victory in the sea were thinking about Louvre and crowds of Chinese. They did what they wanted and what they could. Then the culture was (partially) preserved, and built around her, so she is an important part of our culture not because she was made this way, but because we are cultivated this way.