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 | art, comfort |
I’m reading The Best American Essays of the Century, and came across this in Joyce Carol Oates’ introduction:
“My belief is that art should not be comforting; for comfort, we have mass entertainment, and one another. Art should provoke, disturb, arouse our emotions, expand our sympathies in directions we may not anticipate and may not even wish.” (xx)
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Is there no comfort in art, or ought it never aspire to comfort? What if you identify with the art or artist in some way—what if art inspires a feeling of connection—do we not take comfort in that? Or is that beside the point? What do you think?
Gosh, I think my issue with her statements is in the “shoulds.” If she had written, “art is not always comforting” or “art can provoke, disturb” I’d feel better about it — and I’d agree with the idea that art can tap into myriad emotions, some quite unsettling and challenging. But, I take great comfort in art at times, both taking it in and creating it, and I am not willing to give in to anyone, even a “great artist,” telling me what art “should” and should not do for me. To me, the “shoulds” are beside the point — the point that art is limitless and open to our personal experiences of it. So there, JCO.
Perhaps what she MEANT was that art isn’t passive, it should affect us and change who we are — that it should cause some sort of emotional reaction within us — unlike TV or something you just zone out to.
But I have to say, nothing gives me more comfort than reading a good book!
Yes, maybe. She was explaining her selection criteria– how she chose the essays that are the “best of the century”– so she was talking more about evaluating art than about creating art. But of course I’m thinking about the implications for creating art, and the universality of the statement. Hmm.
I think sometimes comfort is exactly what we need. Is it wrong if we happen to find it in art?
I think it depends on how you view comfort… a feeling of rightness and well-being? Or complacency? Can you be comfortable if you are putting forth some effort (as in trying to understand a painting or some literature?) One person’s comfort is another person’s total boredom… So I imagine this is one of those quotes that will inspire widely different reactions from people based on how they understand the word “comfort.”
I don’t know about “should.” Art is healing. Healing isn’t always comfortable, sure. Sometimes it hurts like hell. But sometimes it’s such a relief you could cry. I guess that’s maybe comfort too–just non-sissy comfort. The kind of comfort that isn’t just the absence of pain, it’s the “fixing” of it. But maybe not.
Hmmm, I think this is very interesting, and this idea–about what art does, what it CAN do–has been much on my mind lately. I know some of the things I’ve written will provoke and disturb, but I wrote them because they felt true to me. But my hope is that people will also be comforted by what I’ve written. My hope is that they will feel less alone. I don’t think anyone can say what art can or should do. It can do something different for each person who views it, no?