Which Art Form Would You Like Better? Explosive Legend vs. Aging Classic

[salamangkero 0]

Hi guys. I was inspired by something I've read about Akatsuki members Deidara and Sasori.

Suppose you were presented two forms of art. (Let's limit ourselves first to visual art and aural art, that is, music) One is an acutely awe-inspiring vision or song that you'll never see or hear ever again for the rest of your life. Needless to say, it is something you will treasure in your memory as long as you live. It is meant to die so soon, only to live on as a legend. It is something like war, for example, the way veteran soldiers would recline in their chair and recount stories of such fatal dance. Or, for those of us living here in the Philippines, it is a lot like Star Trek; it exists only as a legend, for the younger generations have had no idea of the glory of "putting 'er into Warp 3" or the Vulcan salute, "Live long and prosper."

The other one is, initially, a peasant, vulgar, common, lowly kind of art. It is something so commonplace but, as time goes by, it's beauty slowly shows. For example, you see a painting of roses but it is only after viewing it so many times do you notice that it has a tulip hidden in there somewhere. Or only after listening to a loud and violent rock song will you distinguish that, somewhere in the background, there is a violin playing one of Tchaikovsky's pieces. In other words, this form of art is meant to last forever, brewing and fermenting into maturity the longer it stays in a person's memory.

Now, I'm quite aware that both are entirely different things and that neither can provide everything the other offers. What I'm asking, however, is this: if you were to be made to choose between the two, which would weigh much more heavily in your heart? Which one will pull your heartstrings more forcefully? Is it the legend that suddenly booms and fades away just as quickly? Or is it the pedestrian piece that, like wine, matures into full bloom as time goes by?

For a side note: Deidara is an explosives specialist. He creates clay sculptures that he can imbue with life-like attributes (locomotion); these sculptures, however, detonate upon command. Sasori-sama, on the other hand, creates battle puppets whose beauty is preserved throughout the ages.

[linekill 1]

Hello there magician, salamangkero ha? hehehe.. from the philippines, too. As for your question regarding which art. I'd prefer the Eternal enduring art. I'm not an art student , but an artist, so bear with my explanations. The legend one sounds so good, it reflects its own reality, being just a legend. The good part of transitory art is the mystery behind it and, I guess, that makes it more interesting. As what deidara has done to himself. "Art is a blast." He did keep up to his view of art being an explosion until the end. Why, the other? Art is universal. And universality is, what I believe, synonymous to eternal. Time isn't just the best healer, it's also the best test. Old friends are better, vintage rocks, old wood comfortable, old wisdom, etc. Sasori died just like how he believes art should be. A puppet, pierced in the heart. But if you look at them both, they still have parts of them (lesser parts) who clings to the other art. Sasori keeping his heart and deidara's self detonation to create a huge crater. Art really is the combination of both. At what ratio? That's where the artist comes.

[salamangkero 0]

A, kababayan!

 

Actually I prefer the term "sorcerer" instead of "magician"

 

I just realized a few things about the two approaches to art, mostly concerned with the concept of death, yaoi-shipping and a certain sword-and-sorcery genre book and/or movie released recently.

 

For the explosive legend, I suppose it will leave a lot of people in awe and, to a degree, those who have witnessed it first-hand could contaminate those who haven't into thinking or feeling they have missed something so shattering. However, as these people, Trekkies or whatnot, if you will, live on, age and die, so does the "art" form slowly erode into nothingness.

 

The aging classic, on the other hand, starts out small and slowly gains support. Might I also note that, should the author of the "art" form die, support for his works tends to increase dramatically. Should it happen to reach critical mass, they would snowball into the future generations like an infinitely driven Katamari. If, however, it fails to gather enough followers, I think it'd just die and, practically speaking, be no more than an explosive legend, only, not as explosive in its fadeout.

 

So, basically, I suppose, it is all a matter of scale.

 

The explosive legend starts out like so and ends like this...

 

...while the aging classic starts small and ends up growing like this.

 

 

Might I also note the sweet irony that he who likes enduring art forms, the venerable Sasori-sama, should die first while his, uh, "partner" of sorts, Deidara, lived on to create more short-lived artwork? I'm sorry, I cannot resist pointing that out, as I am a bit of a yaoi-shipper for those two guy

 

 

On a side note, I wonder how JK Rowling's "art" work will be classified? Do you think images of a certain young wizard will live on far into the future? Or will the memories of a certain school for witchcraft and wizardry slowly be suffocated by the more prevalent myths, I mean, religion that our grandchildren will listen to us harp about, a certain "Mr. Potter" very much like our grandparents sigh about a certain "war"?

 

In any case, do humor me and vote what you are more inclined to favor. Of course, virtually no one can really say which art one absolutely prefers so, like I asked earlier, "Which Art Form Would You Like Better?"