Great Artists?
Originally written in Spanish for a South American Social Darwinism journal.
None of which appear on news papers and the news nowadays. Definitely not! Great are the serious groups of folk music, academic music, jazz ensembles, the great classical guitarists of the world, orchestra directors, and other representatives of the purest of art.
Britney Spears and Shakira can't possibly be “great artists”, because for them to be just that would require them to have previously created any form of art. In most instances, when money calls at the door of artistic intent, art loses all of its purpose and becomes a slave of capital and the taste of the majority, not that of the artist. They forget that art should be created “for the sake of art.” L'art pour l'art.
We are often told that artists “reinvent” themselves. That statement seems really curious to Me. What I think really happens is that they mutate towards the new expectations of the market, never to be out of trend, and to continue selling records. Does anybody seriously believe that it's because of any internal force that they change their way of creating “art”?
One thing is earning money through the art one produces, and another very different thing is to make art solely in order to earn money. Those few who take this into account are true artists. Those who do not, pseudo-artists. The first are the greatest men and women in the history of art; the latter, those who shall be forgotten within a few years. The first make art mainly to express themselves; the latter, to please the mediocre artistic expectations of the herd who feeds them. For that reason their “art” can be no more than a poor travesty of true art.
And why is it that nowadays it seems like there aren't Rachmaninoffs and Mozarts anymore? Oh, but they exist! Sadly, almost nobody listens to their music. Why? Because a certain sensibility needs to be possessed in order to appreciate superior art the way it has to be. “Art” made for the mediocre masses will always be well received. Exclusive art made for thinking brains will not. The reason is very simple: those who do think are a great minority.
Those who can appreciate fine art are, in one way or another, superior to their contemporaries. I see them as part of a natural aristocracy. Like I have previously stated, a special, natural, superior and profound sensibility must be had in order to understand many works of art. It's not always about being extremely cultured either. An intellectual baggage is always useful, but it isn't what I am referring to. I simply think that one is born with certain aptitudes that develop themselves throughout the course of one's life. Mozart knew of nothing but art. Yet His music is superior to what many cultured people could ever create. And that is because He had that special sensibility of which I speak.
Out there, there are many sheep who think of Britney Spears as a great artist. And the reason they believe this is because she sells lots of records. I blush in shame when I hear statements such as this! It shows the infinite stupidity of the ignorant and inferior herd!
There are excellent performers and artists who have succeeded in achieving popularity among the educated public. Let's say that in the last fifty years or so there have been a few artists and performers that have given Me a bit of faith in human intelligence.
Throughout My life I have known of many excellent composers who have had to sell themselves to the market of mediocrity in order to survive. Their true music goes unnoticed, and that which is successful and sells is the music they composed to appease the public's idiotic trends and expectations.
Those of Us who consider Ourselves part of the aristocratic and educated public – in the sense I have already explained – have the duty to support the truly great artists of our generation. I see it as an infamy that our age should be remembered by future generations for its mediocre pseudo-artists. There are many valuable things, almost always hidden from view, that are worth being rescued in this sea of mediocrity. Let us rescue them!
