Art For Art's Sake

One of those old movie companies, I think it was MGM, the one with the roaring lion, had a Latin quote on it's logo. I'm not sure how it's spelled in Latin but, in English, it means "Art for art's sake." Of course art has been used for lots of other purposes, like advertising and propaganda but, in a larger sense, I think that's what art is supposed to be, a thing unto itself that is self validating. Thinking of it that way, the art does not work for the artist, the artist works for his art. We all like a little pat on the back once in awhile, but that's not the main reason we do stuff. We do stuff because it needs to be done, and we know how. We derive satisfaction from knowing that we are doing something useful, which is a fancy way of saying we do it because it's fun. One way of knowing that what you're doing is useful is if somebody is willing to pay you money to do it, but that's not the only way.

Sometimes nobody else seems to think that what we are doing is useful, but that doesn't mean it's not useful. When I cut down a tree, it's primarily because I want the firewood, and that's one kind of useful. It has been pointed out to me that if, instead of cutting firewood, I would put the same amount of time into a minimum wage job, I could buy my firewood and have money left over. While that may be true, I would rather spend my time in the woods than working at some crummy job, so that's what I do. Another kind of useful is when I select a tree to cut because it's in the way, either in my way or in the way of other trees that are trying to grow around it. This tree is past it's prime, it has lived it's life, and now it's time for it to get out of the way and let the younger trees have a chance. Few people would call my forestry practices "art" but, in a way, that's kind of what it is. Foresters like to say that they are working for future generations and, in my case, that's certainly true. Many of the improvements I make to my forest will not be apparent until I am long gone. It has occurred to me that, when I die, my heirs might sell this land to a developer who will pave it over, and all my efforts will come to naught. I could ask them not to do that, or even take legal steps to prevent them, but I don't want to. The knowledge that I have been a good steward of the land while I was here is enough for me. Let future generations do with it what they will.

I have read that there were horse drawn streetcars in Cheboygan back in the day. They must have been useful at the time, but they must have outlived their usefulness or they would still be in operation. Well, they wouldn't be horse drawn anymore, but you know what I mean. When I first moved here, there were taxi cabs, but they aren't here anymore either. I Think what Ken is saying is that, if they took all our cars away, we would have to use public transportation, and they would have to provide it for us because the need would be there. Well maybe, or maybe not. They could just take our cars away and leave us with nothing. Even if they did provide public transportation, it would only take us to where they wanted us to go, not necessarily where we wanted to go. No thanks, we'll just keep our cars.

Looking back on it, the Vietnam War was just as complicated as the Mideast conflicts are today. Those weren't simpler times, we were just simpler people.