August 2011 issue of the parish magazine, Your Berkhamsted

LeaderYour Berkhamsted Leader by Fr Basil JonesI recently attended alecture by Sir TomStoppard entitled ”Theprivilege of an artist” inwhich he exploredwhat it was that madethe artist and more importantly what isArt. He did not come up with any fixedconclusions but left us with various ideasto help us tussle out this intriguingsubject. He admitted straight away that hehad led a charmed life beginning as a Jewin Moravia who was sent to Singaporewhen he was ten to escape the Nazis andthen whisked away to India to escape theJapanese.As a young man in England he wrote hisfirst play in his twenties and then withmodest means he has been able to indulgehimself as an artist ever since. His lecturelasted an hour and I have a full transcriptfor any who may be interested, but hegave us certain pointers to stimulate ourthinking.A Russian 19th century critic calledVissarion Belinsky said “Every work ofart is the breath of a single eternal ideabreathed by God into the inner life of theartist.” Elevated claims but as TomStoppard says they are actuallycommonplace. Or as another Russian saidwhen going for trial in one of the purgesand asked “What makes you a poet?” -“Oh, erm, well, I thought - I think it wasGod”.Karl Marx saw things rather differently.His vision was that a man would be abaker in the morning, a lawmaker in theafternoon and a poet in the evening. ButStoppard goes on to say that in the generalscheme of things in the Anglo Saxonworld the artist is allowed to say “I paintpictures” or “I dance” etc., There is asense of privilege and almost a respectedplace. That is how we have organised oursociety.I will end this little piece by quotingwords which he put into the mouth ofJames Joyce: “An artist is the magicianput amongst men to gratify - capriciously- their urge for immortality. The templesare built and brought down around him,continuously and contiguously, from Troyto the fields of Flanders. If there is anymeaning in any of it, it is in what survivesas art, yes even in the celebration oftyrants, yes even in the celebration ofnonentities. What now of the Trojan Warif it had been passed over by the artist’stouch? Dust. A forgotten expeditionprompted by Greek merchants looking fornew markets. A minor redistribution ofbroken pots. But it is we who standenriched, by a tale of heroes, of a goldenapple, a wooden horse, a face thatlaunched a thousand ships-“But not quite, I must have the last word asusual! The Church’s Liturgy is thegreatest living work of art provided it isperformed to the best of the abilities ofthose present. It may have Colour,(Vestments etc.), Painting (stained glass),Dance (Movement), Perfume (Incense),Music and Singing (Hymns etc.), Poetry(The Word etc.). Most importantly it isincomplete as a work of Art without YOUto bring it alive and give Glory to theinspirer of all artists. yB3