There is no must in art because art is free.
Interpretation
Art exists without constraints or obligations; it is an expression of freedom.
Wassily Kandinsky's quote reflects the essence of artistic expression, asserting that true art is born from freedom rather than obligation. The phrase emphasizes that in the realm of creativity, there are no stringent rules or 'musts'; instead, artists are encouraged to explore and express their individuality without being confined by societal expectations or traditional norms.
In practice
During an art exhibition, one could inspire the audience by saying, 'As Kandinsky reminds us, there is no must in art because art is free, so let your true creativity shine.'
The true work of art is born from the 'artist': a mysterious, enigmatic, and mystical creation. It detaches itself from him, it acquires an autonomous life, becomes a personality, an independent subject, animated with a spiritual breath, the living subject of a real existence of being.
The artist must have something to say, for mastery over form is not his goal but rather the adapting of form to its inner meaning.
With cold eyes and indifferent mind the spectators regard the work. Connoissers admire the "skill" (as one admires a tightrope walker), enjoy the "quality of painting" (as one enjoys a pasty). But hungry souls go hungry away. The vulgar herd stroll through the rooms and pronounce the pictures "nice" or "splendid." Those who could speak have said nothing, those who could hear have heard nothing.
The sound of colors is so definite that it would be hard to find anyone who would express bright yellow with bass notes or dark lake with treble.
The more abstract is form, the more clear and direct its appeal.
All methods are sacred if they are internally necessary. All methods are sins if they are not justified by internal necessity.
All the pictures I could never do, I'll do it in comics. All the comics I do are the pictures I could never do.
There is so much that glows in the circus, from flames to lanterns to stars. I have heard the expression “trick of the light” applied to sights within Le Cirque des Reves so frequently that I sometimes suspect the entirety of the circus is itself a complex illusion of illumination” .
When you read and understand a poem, comprehending its rich and formal meanings, then you master chaos a little.
A writer is dreamed and transfigured into being by spells, wishes, goldfish, silhouettes of trees, boxes of fairy tales dropped in the mud, uncles' and cousins' books, tablets and capsules and powders...and then one day you find yourself leaning here, writing on that round glass table salvaged from the Park View Pharmacy--writing this, an impossibility, a summary of who you came to be where you are now, and where, God knows, is that?
Joao Gilberto on guitar could read a newspaper and sound good.
Don't be too precious about your craft... there's only 26 letters and 12 notes, and Shakespeare and Beethoven said it all better than any of us ever will
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