Art and Craft

If music is the Universal Language, then it must be acknowledged that language exists to communicate. And if music is an art, then it must have a cultural and historical context, even when it communicates across cultures. Just as “Free Expression” is not necessarily synonymous with “Free Speech,” inasmuch as expression may or may not include any thought, so art is not self-expression: It is cultural expression. Much as one may enjoy the sound of one’s own voice, or the reflection of one’s own face in a mirror like Narcissus of old, rules and structures of language and grammar commonly understood and shared are necessary components of public communication, and that includes the language of the arts. The poet, or painter, or composer who deigns to speak down to us with arrogant condescension, demanding that we appreciate expression so rooted in self that it requires superhuman effort on our part to receive any meaning, is not an artist in any sense. And whereas it cannot be denied that some of the greatest artists of music, painting, sculpture, and literature, had only a small following in their own time, they nonetheless were understood by many, which is itself appreciation even if not always favorable. They communicated, and it became part of their culture over time. This is why even though the crafts are not arts, to communicate beyond the lunacy of talking always only to oneself, without craftsmanship the arts cannot be discerned.