The Usefulness of the Useless. [2013]

5703

Nuccio Ordine

If the usefulness of the useless, the uselessness of the useful, is not understood, art is not understood. [Eugène Ionesco] The professor of Italian Literature Nuccio Ordine collects, orders and comments on his interesting book "The usefulness of the useless. Manifesto "a set of texts by various thinkers about the usefulness of all those knowledge whose essential value is, precisely, to be unconnected to any utilitarian purpose. A very interesting book.

Grámatica del arte (1993)

7451

J J Beljon

The compound of two left halves of a face can be curious, but not exciting. The symmetry could be described as axial equilibrium, but the most stimulating balance is the asymmetric one. That is, the balance of a kilo of feathers and a kilo of lead. The volume differs, but the weighing scales shows balance.

Understanding a Photograph (1972)

8069

John Berger

Photographs bear witness to a human choice being exercised in a given situation. A photograph is a result of the photographer's decision that it is worth recording that this particular event or this particular object has been seen. If everything there existed were continually being photographed, every photograph would become meaningless.

The Decay of Lying (1891)

7567

Oscar Wilde

Those who do not love Beauty more than Truth never know the inmost shrine of Art.

The Naming Of Cats (1939)

5826

T. S. Eliot

T. S. Eliot publishes in 1939 his book Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats, which includes the poem The Naming Of Cats.

To write standing up (1991)

7711

Michel Tournier

An artist can, on his behalf, accept all honorus, provided that his work rejects them.

Abstracción en arquitectura: una definición (2000)

9569

Carlos Marti Aris

The abstract procedure diverts the architectural work towards the syntactic side, giving priority to the rules of formal construction of the object itself; the interest is then shifted from the elements to the relationships established between them and to the principles of composition that regulate them.

Order and form (1955)

8871

Louis I. Kahn

A Form emerges from the structural elements inherent in the form. A dome is not conceived when questions arise how to build it.

The dehumanization of Art (1925)

8177

José Ortega y Gasset

To see the garden and to see the glass of the window are two incompatible operations: the one excludes the other and they need different ocular accommodations.

Poetics of music (1942)

9579

Igor Stravinsky

In everything that bows gracefully there must be an effort at stiffness. Bows arc beautiful when they bend only because they try to remain rigid. (1) G. K. Chesterton El estudio del proceso creador es de los más delicados. Es imposible, en efecto, observar desde fuera el desarrollo íntimo de tal proceso. Es inútil tratar de seguir las fases del trabajo ajeno. Es igualmente difícil observarse a si mismo. Aún así, creo que apelando a mi introspección tendré algunas probabilidades de guiarles en esta materia esencialmente ondulante. La mayor parte de los melómanos cree que lo que impulsa a la imaginación creadora del compositor es una cierta inquietud emotiva que se designa generalmente con el nombre de inspiración. No pienso negar a la inspiración el papel eminente que se le otorga en la génesis que estudiamos; simplemente afirmo que no es en modo alguno condición previa del arte musical, sino una manifestación secundaria en el orden del tiempo. Inspiración, arte y artista son palabras de sentido poco determinado que nos impiden ver con claridad en un dominio en donde todo es equilibrio y cálculo, por donde pasa el soplo del espíritu especulativo. Más tarde, pero sólo más tarde, […]