Have a Little Faith
John McLachlan
Promoters of art mislead audiences by suggesting that there is meaning where there is none. Sometimes you just have to trust the artist, writes John McLachlan
Did you ever notice that there are basic patterns in common even between the most avant-garde artistic event and a shamanistic village rite? Both involve a ritual element as well as some transmission of information from a giver to a group of receivers. And with both there is an element of trust that something meaningful is about to happen. As deep and ancient forms of cultural expression, the public are often drawn to art and religion on a search for meaning, even, sometimes, comfort. The producers and promoters of art might downplay such comparisons, but they themselves frequently resemble priests in their mystification of the...
