Artsy Insights

Marina Abramovic, the . . . er, unconventional "artist," was interviewed in Time magazine. When Belinda Luscombe asked about her pain-inducing means to express herself, she replied: 

I always believed that people don't do anything really important from the state of happiness. Because happiness is to say that you don't want to change. 

Hm. Well, consider the initial stages of an ideal relationship. If both are happy, chances are they have been accepted as they are. Ergo the eye-gazing, ubiquitous grins, etc. Yet after marriage, there are adjustments. Some change, by he and she, will be needed to keep the boat steady. They aren't changing from a place of happiness; they are changing from a place of meaning.

Happiness = contentment = complacency. As we learn through Yaakov, however, we are not here to be content. 

Another point that piqued: 

BL: Why in history are there so few prominent female artists?

MA: Because, unfortunately, women are not ready to sacrifice as much as men. Because women want to be loved and to have a relationship, and to have children. You have only one energy in your body. And that energy will go where you focus it. 

Those great male artists were, for the most part, jackasses. In my belief, if "great art" emerged at the hands of a sadistic egotist, it's not great to me. The ends don't justify the means. 

As for her "unfortunately," I beg to quibble. Is wanting to be loved and to have children something to be dismissed as unimportant? Is that energy focus invalid? Not only in terms of art, but of career, too. We recall the "great artists," their work is prominently displayed. But does it matter? 

Human relationships matter.