Author: Tom Robbins
One of my favorite fiction authors is Tom Robbins. He writes with a unique style and mixes ridiculous tales with relevant allegories often narrated by absurd, personable and unique characters. In his first novel, Another Roadside Attraction, Robbins drops this line of wisdom on us:
“The function of the artist,” the Navajo answered, “is to
provide what life does not.”
When I think of an artist, I think of an extremely specialized person in a highly liberal art. For society to have a space for an individual with the title of "artist" this requires a pretty high level of sophistication, advancement and specialization in society. I consider artists and art to be in the same category as philosophers and musicians; this segment of society represents the fruits of a stable society where the exploration of "questions" unknown can be explored. It's not by chance that many society's art development was tied with religion.
So when an artist provides "what life does not", does this mean that it literally creates things or rather, does it aid our awareness and recognition of certain things that normal life suppresses?
When I think of an artist, I think of an extremely specialized person in a highly liberal art. For society to have a space for an individual with the title of "artist" this requires a pretty high level of sophistication, advancement and specialization in society. I consider artists and art to be in the same category as philosophers and musicians; this segment of society represents the fruits of a stable society where the exploration of "questions" unknown can be explored. It's not by chance that many society's art development was tied with religion.
So when an artist provides "what life does not", does this mean that it literally creates things or rather, does it aid our awareness and recognition of certain things that normal life suppresses?
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