In her essay titled The Value of Not Understanding Everything, Grace Paley presents the idea that artists live and work withiin a world that we don't completely understand while critics of art live within the pages of fiction, the lines of poetry, the strokes of paintings ... to point out the merits of the art at hand, based on what the critic already understands about the world. Artists dare to imagine, illuminate, and create even when we can't fully figure out the conundrum of the human condition ... embracing the tension and the mystery of it all ... the love, lust, hate, disdain, and all the rest.
Paley also states that art is synonymous to justice ... which she defines as "the illumination of what isn't known, the lighting up of what is under a rock, of what has been hidden." This justice happens because artists work through the power of imagination. Like really and deeply imagining what it's like to be someone other than myself. Empathy.
Tension in this world feels at a peak these days. Women. Men. Gay. Straight. Bi. Trans. Love. Lust. Touch. Grope. Grab. Fuck. Flirt. Yes. No. Maybe. Me too.
Here we are. And here I am humbly bowing down to audacious artists ... who work relentlessly to light up what has been hidden as we deploy the power of imagination/empathy ... with the strength of character to occasionally say "I don't know" ... and engage the tension within those beautiful words to embrace the light and pursue the creation of justice. Fiat Lux.
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