[Gemme]

Originally Posted by charley

The word passion literally means love of one thing, compassion meaning love of all. I am not at all certain that the 10 "artists" you mentioned had love in their heart - au contraire, having seen the biopic on Picasso, I am sure he didn't know what "love" was. To be transparent myself, I am not a fan of any of the artists you mentioned, and I have been to the Louvre, and saw Géricault's "Raft of Medusa" [no offense to Medusa of this site - ]; it takes up the whole wall, not crazy about that one either - even if I could own it, I wouldn't want it... can you imagine having to look at that one every day...? The thing is I wouldn't want to shake hands with any of these people, nor would I encourage any of them. I find it interesting and weird that people value their works of "art". Procurement of such "art" has become nothing less than big business.

The thing is I am able to see love in art; and when there is no love, I feel nothing, same thing with music.

Insofar as finding "solace or grace" in works of art, I know someone here who has stared incessantly at a picture of the Virgin Mary (a very nice work of "art" btw), and then built his life around that, creating his own church, with himself as high priest, he even bought religious vestments and walks around in them (smh) - having done Christian "contemplation" incorrectly termed meditation. There are so many examples of people finding so-called "solace or grace" in detrimental habits, that I doubt there is any grace in what they do. To me, it's just another delusion - in other words, playing with something that isn't real. Of course, when a person chooses to follow and believe in whatever delusion they like, they must live with the consequences.

All I understand is that the brain can play tricks with itself and lie to itself. So, far be it from me to tell another how to live, or to tell another whether or not to boycott MJ or R Kelly (I saw his interview with Gayle King btw!!!), etc.

R Kelly's display was incredible, right? Having been accused of trying to control/dominate and influence the lives of so many of his young victims, nothing could seem to stop him from trying to control/dominate and influence his audience's view... geez!

Therefore, I cannot tell another to "boycott" MJ or R Kelly or whoever, I can only speak for myself.

When you say, Demonize the person, not their work, I can only say that whatever a person puts out in the universe is but a reflection of what is going on inside of them, and that is why this planet is in such a mess.

I only brought up this subject because I think it is important to think about the subject.

Actually, that's not the definition of 'passion'. Here's the link, since it's a bit long but none of the versions list the meaning as 'love of one thing'. But I see you have some strong views on this matter and that's great. To each their own, right?

I wouldn't even venture a guess as to what someone else has in their heart and soul, but I do know what I personally get out of certain artists' work, be it musical or art or spoken word or whatever. Art takes many forms and is absolutely subjective. From the sound of it, you and I have very different opinions in relation to specific artists but similar thoughts on R. Kelly. lol

I agree that 'art' as a classification has become not only big business but is used as a status symbol and that's sad to me. I think it should be more freely available to all, especially younger generations that are still building their character and finding their own passions.

Thanks so much for the dialogue!