Art is useless because its aim is simply to create a mood. It is not meant to instruct, or to influence action in any way. It is superbly sterile, and the note of its pleasure is sterility. If the contemplation of a work of art is followed by activity of any kind, the work is either of a very second-rate order, or the spectator has failed to realise the complete artistic impression.
A work of art is useless as a flower is useless. A flower blossoms for its own joy. We gain a moment of joy by looking at it. That is all that is to be said about our relations to flowers. Of course man may sell the flower, and so make it useful to him, but this has nothing to do with the flower. It is not part of its essence. It is accidental. It is a misuse. All this is I fear very obscure. But the subject is a long one.
Truly yours,
Oscar Wilde"
My
father just sent me this quote in response to an article I
sent him regarding the current economic climate MFA students must endure
and how being an artist or writer in a capitalist society
has never been valued; on the contrary it has been seen as frivolous,
even useless.
The article sparked a debate that has been going on for quite a while now, as we can see from Wilde's quote, which was taken from the introduction to the novel "Picture of Dorian Gray".
The article sparked a debate that has been going on for quite a while now, as we can see from Wilde's quote, which was taken from the introduction to the novel "Picture of Dorian Gray".
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