However poetical, realistic, effectful, or interesting a work may be, it is not a work of art if it does not evoke the feeling (quite distinct from all other feelings) of joy and of spiritual union with another (the author) and with others (those who are also infected by it)...
To evoke in oneself a feeling one has experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then, by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling--this is the activity of art.
Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them.
Leo Tolstoy, What is Art.ACTION POINT: Look for the art that is all around you.
2 comments:
I know exactly what art is. I just read it.
This is a great quote, and a great way to walk through my life...looking for art in my daily life is like seeing the beauty that surrounds me. It's like being grateful for what I have, more seems to come into my life, which makes me more grateful. Like looking for the good in people...
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