One of the grotesqueries of present-day American life is the amount of reasoning that goes into displaying the wisdom secreted in bad movies while proving that modern art is meaningless. They have put into practice the notion that a bad art work cleverly interpreted according to some obscure Method is more rewarding than a masterpiece wrapped in silence.
Interpretation
This quote criticizes the tendency to overanalyze bad art while overlooking the value of truly great works.
Harold Rosenberg's quote highlights a cultural irony in which people invest extensive reasoning and analysis into understanding subpar movies and artworks, while dismissing significant masterpieces as lacking meaning. It suggests a problematic trend in modern art appreciation, where convoluted interpretations are valued over the intrinsic beauty and emotional resonance of art that speaks for itself.
In practice
During a discussion about cinematic trends in a film class.
I think music is about our internal life. It’s part of the way people touch each other. That’s very precious to me. And astronomy is, in a sense, the very opposite thing. Instead of looking inwards, you are looking out, to things beyond our grasp.
Jazz shouldn't have any mandates. Jazz is not supposed to be something that's required to sound like jazz. For me, the word 'jazz' means, 'I dare you.'
Whoever wishes to devote himself to painting should begin by cutting out his own tongue
Japan lives with drastic segregation between the sublime, the ugly, and the utterly without qualities. Dominance of the last 2 categories makes mere presence of the first stunning: when beauty 'happens', it is absolutely surprising.
My whole theory about art is the disparity that exists between form, masses and movement.
The weapons an author has at her disposal are flawed. There are words that feel shapeless and overused. Love, for example. I could write the word love a thousand times and it would mean a thousand different things to different readers.
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