The Utility of Art

Shiraz,

I once asked Temporal, what should I do to improve my understanding of poetry. He replied, understanding is too loaded a word for an esoteric subject like poetry, appreciation is more apt.

It is not possible to quantify everything in life. Looks like you`ve not looked at your showcase lately. The adornments on various shelves are not utility items, they are there just for looking good. Unless, you`ve stacked your showcase with gadget manuals :-)

rahulmal: A lot of what T talks about (and sometimes writes about other than short stories) is nonesense....do`nt take his advice too seriously...

An excellent topic Shiraz! ....... should have called it as an essay on ``Iconography and Idolatory in the Utilitarian World.`` and maybe expanded it to include the obsessions with various ``Icons`` that religions forces on the impressionable minds.
The Icons of ancient world get reified in the discourse of the old books........and the Icons of modern civilization such as the dollar bill gets deified in the discourse of the financial markets..............both can lead to life threatening consequences if the objects and entities that both these discourses construct are reified.......................
The difference between the ``signifier`` and the ``signified`` is the key to understanding the concept of Idolatory...............and obsession with the ``signifier`` would certainly turn every self professed faithful into an idolator................

roz:

wrong on all 17 counts (yet again)

and

for once right on the advice part

:)

rgds

t

ps: read my friend haroon here on Qur`an desecration...he articulated it better than i could have...

A. Shiraz,

Some ``self-proclaimed`` artists such as Damien Hurst who take ``cow-dung`` or whatever Mr Saatchi collects, or for that matter a mundane bed in the middle of a room by Tracey Emin are ``deified`` by fanatic art worshippers the world over.

This unquestioning cult stautus given to art, no matter how non-sensical it is remains occult and worrying for it rocks our society to the root with a blinding unquestioning acceptance of trends.

No offence, but if traditionally ``narrow-minded`` engineers like yourself can raise a tangible critique on ``art`` which ebbs into the realm of critical questioning than it is a hale and hearty contribution to our world.

More hale and hearty a contribution than Mr Saatchi or Mr Hirst could ever dream of rendering. Too busy in their laboratories of lunacy.