Write On! :: Comments :: How to write like a cocky bastard

"Art always tells the truth, even when it's lying."
Great flick, there.
I was beginning to wonder if this was ever going to reach the magic number...
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"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." --Thomas Jefferson
[ Parent ]

Not surprising, since I don't watch movies often :-)

"Art always tells the truth, even when it's lying."

When is art not "lying"? When you draw, paint, write, sculpt, compose, or even photograph, you are not showing everything as it is in reality. You are choosing what to emphasize, what to minimize, what to leave out, and what to only hint at. You are choosing how it is presented, what it shows, and how it shows it. That sounds to me both like a lie--and like art.
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Who needs to be big and burly when you can just apply physics?
[ Parent ]

At least it should.

The lie is acknowledged within art. The artist and the audience share the joke. In all art forms, the accomplished artist should set the rules and limits of the reality that this piece exist in and then follow the rules of that reality.

I'm referring to written, visual, and auditory arts here, by the way.

For example, in a piece of sculpture. The artist carves a fingernail 1.5 centimeters in diameter. That is now the scale of the entire piece. As long as the artist honors that scale, he can put whatever outlandish posture, feature, or accessory into the composition and the audience will accept it and enjoy it. The moment his hand strays, the illuion begins to break down and entrophy gathers.

A true master of sculpture has a greater understanding of the limits of divergence from proportion, and can stretch the suspension of disbelief almost to the point of breaking.

Art lies, but it lies honestly. When it tries to lie dishonestly, it fails.

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"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." --Thomas Jefferson
[ Parent ]

Thanks everybody!

[ Parent ]

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