"Great art—or let’s just say more modestly, original art—is
never created in the safe middle ground but always at the edge. Originality is
dangerous. If you want to increase the sum of what it is possible for human
beings to say, to know, to understand and therefore, in the end, to be; you actually
have to go to the edge and push outwards. Originality is dangerous…and there
are powerful sources in many societies, including this one, who don’t want
those boundaries to be pushed outwards, who don’t want us to be allowed to think
new thoughts, to think dangerous thoughts, to think original thoughts. There
are forces in every society, including this one, which push back against the
efforts of artists and intellectuals and thinkers to increase those boundaries.
And that pushing back can sometimes be dangerous for the artist concerned but
if we believe in liberty…. this is the kind of art whose right to exist we must
not only defend, but celebrate. Art is not entertainment. At its very best,
it’s a revolution."
Yes! Thank you for this post.
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