They said, "You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are."
The man replied, "Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar."
And they said then, "But play, you must,
A tune beyond us, yet ourselves,
A tune upon the blue guitar
Of thigns exactly as they are."
I cannot bring a world quite round,
Although I patch it as I can.
I sing a hero's head, large eye
And bearded bronze, but not a man,
Although I patch him as I can
And reach through him almost to man.
If to serenade almost to man
Is to miss, by that, things as they are,
Say that it is the serenade
Of a man that plays a blue guitar.
--Wallace Stevens.
"What is true art? Those with pure intentions, not to make a profit of their art, but art that is made by an artist who see's life as it is and see's fit to put his idea into the world in which we live in. So what of the art in museums: Are they true art? No, they were made because of a profit. What of Michealangelo's art piece of the Sisteen Chapel? No, that was made of a profit, although he was revolutionary and no one told him how his idea should have been. With this, it is art, but tainted.
So how do you know what true art is? True art is when the art itself creates controversy. Those on the Bestseller's list are not true art, not even works of literature. Why? Because it was made to make a profit. Works such as Herman Mellville's, Moby Dick, that was true art."
That was the discussion I had once with my english teacher after we read, "The Man With The Blue Guitar," because if you know any Wallace Steven's work, he wrote of artists. On a green day, a man plays a blue guitar. Contrasting images can be visualized in the first two stanzas. So what does this mean? Well, let's take Moby Dick for example.
When Moby Dick was written, it was above it's time. Herman Mellville spent the last 30 years of his life living a meager job and then died like an average man. 50 years later is when his work became appreciated. So how does this relate to "The Man With The Blue Guitar?" The man with the blue guitar is playing a blue guitar on a green day. The blue guitar is like an idea that is ahead of its time. Green day is the present. The people asked if the man can play a tune beyond them, but not to far. If the man played an orange guitar, then it would have been to radical for them.
My English teacher went on saying that Moby Dick was written out of the purity of his heart. He was not in it for the money, or he would have written a "trashy book."
"Most movies, sitcoms, anything that has a plot and nothing original is not art. All it is, is an unoriginal plot with character's plugged in. Only the wittiness and humor is picked up, but nothing else. Some border along art and unorginality. Casablanca is one such borderline. Most movies and television shows are made to make profit, and with that, it is not pure art. There are movies that is art, pure art. One such movie is 7 Samurais."
What do you think? "Who can say what is art?" my teacher asked. And who can say. Who is he to say what is art? Who am I to say what is art? "That is the timeless question; a question that will never be answered," my teacher said. "I only say what is true art because of what is evident. The works that created the most controversy are the works that are usually called art. Those who are paid big bucks to make a beautiful paintings, the paintings are called art, too. So who is to say what is art? All I'm mearly saying is what is true art, and what is tainted art."