The Artist’s Dilemma
“The integrity of an artist lifts a man above the level of the world without delivering him from it.”
That’s a quote from Thomas Merton- his autobiography. I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything like it. it’s an amazing framing of the artistic struggle.
You’ve found a way to transcend the modern way of life, and everything that goes along with that, but you’re not delivered from it. You still have life itself. It’s still a problem. But your understanding of everything is deeper. Rounder.
And I would say generally, through the act of creation and flow and making art, you really do see things differently.
Now, I know some people will have a real problem with quotes from a Catholic monk, but I would also say those same people don’t seem to have problems with quotes from somebody who just learned how to do singing bowls and is suddenly “spiritual.” Truth remains truth no matter where it comes from.
And I think the universality of Merton’s understanding of the artist’s dilemma is incredibly poignant.
Where we exist day to day, making art is incongruous with a material-based world and all the achievements and rewards and measurements that go along with it. In my case, music, streaming numbers, popularity, how much work are we not gonna have to do if we work with you, how much work are you gonna do, quantifiably what are you bringing to the table?
All of this is at odds with art.
And it’s part of the day-to-day problem of being an artist.
How do we reconcile this world with straight material domains?
I don’t know.