(From my book 68 dated 15/11/1996-22/11/1996)

It is time we took a fresh look at the function of art. The M F Hussein incident has compelled me to take a fresh angle on the function of art. Any artist expresses his inner visions through the form of his art. A writer, a poet expresses his inner world in the form of literature and poetry. All through the human history, the function of true art and literature has been the expression of heart, has been noble and lofty without being pretentious. Just as the poet is the one who sees the infinite truth and beauty of life and things and sings in their praise in their multifarious ephemeral manifestations, so too the artist sees the eternal beauty and truth and reveals in his work their myriad expressions in the world of transience. It is his special gift, just as it is the poets to lend to his representations of finite and temporal life and things a touch of the infinite and the immortal.

Emerson says that beauty is an invitation to what is within us. It is this beauty and not the ugly in us which the artist endeavors to portray through his art and through it, evoke in the public at large the awareness and the appreciation of that beauty. For arts function, consciously or unconsciously, directly or indirectly, has been to purify, chasten and exalt our unregenerate passions and instincts through the revelation of beauty within us and in Nature. And since beauty is delight and harmony, true art cannot but heighten and deepen those attributes of Reality within us and without. When an artist fails to perform this, he fails in his task. But who will judge an artist? The artist may be true and sincere from his own angle but if the world feels otherwise about him, what else can happen other than a cold or open war between the society and the artist? Beyond the expression of inner beauty and truth of the artist, art in itself is a medium of communication. The artist, during his height of creation is communicating with his creation. When he finishes his work and presents his creation before the world, he is communicating with the world. He is conveying something to the world through his work. The artist speaks to the world through forms, images, lines and colors whereas a writer or poet communicates with the world through symbols, imageries, words, plots and characters. So, all the basic concepts of communication are equally applicable to all forms of art and literature from this angle. In communication, there is the giver and the receiver concept. One speaks while the other listens. One dances while the other watches. One presents while the other observes and contemplates. Then, the reaction comes. It may be an act of response. It may be an act of maturity or immaturity. In short, in the giver-receiver concept of communication, two mental planes are at work. The giver has a field of experience. The receiver too has a field of experience. So, communication is a one to one activity. It is a communion of two spheres, two fields of experience, two mental planes in interaction. Ideas are flowing from one plane. Reactions

and responses follow from the other plane in the form of thoughts and reflections, in the form of ideas and interpretations. An artist may be at a higher plane. The people, the society may be at a lower plane. This can mislead things. Vice-versa also can happen. An artist may be standing at a lower plane of mind than the plane of society or people. One cannot take for granted that an artist is always standing at a higher plane than the society or people. It is a false notion. An artist or a writer may mean one thing but people may take it in a different sense. It leads to a cross communication. What is the solution to avoid such a cross communication? An artist, writer, a poet uses so many assumptions, presumptions, images and symbolism in his work. In other words, he has set a tone of his mind in his work. He has thrown his thoughts and feelings into his work. He has meant something to convey to his audience. People receive this mental plane of the artist the creator at their conscious, intellectual level. It is something like two mental planes in interaction one that of the artist and the other, that of the audience. Unless the artist makes his intentions clear in his work without any doubt, the audience is given a mental task, an intellectual task in making the conclusions. So, the artist has to be clear and sincere in his approach. He should make clear of his intentions. He should not leave any element of doubt or confusion upon the heart of people. Clarity of theme, clarity of presentation is the primary duty of any artiste. He can use simple images and symbols. It should convey directly to the heart of people. People should be able to understand the theme. They should be able to enjoy and experience the theme. So, any art work has two planes about it. One is the intellectual plane. The other is the level of the heart or the plane of aesthetics. Finally, everything reduces to the level of heart or head or both according to our view. Any art work should appeal our heart. It should speak our language. It should elevate

our spirits to the values and virtues of life. This is the fulfillment of any discipline of art. If art was only an intellectual circus, then, it is better that we read Theory of Relativity than listened to a nightingale. Even The Theory of Relativity could be learnt but it a sad tale that todays so called Modern Art and Post Modernism in literature stand beyond the scope of our ordinary intelligence and reason. We really sweat in the interpretation of the works coming under these categories. Any art work should be self-explanatory. Whatever is there in the art work should carry its weight directly to the hearts of people. To achieve this, the artist, poet or the writer should convey his intentions in a well-knit manner through his work. There should not be any sort of communication gap between the brush and the eyes of people; between the pen and the mind of the readers. The function of art presupposes that an artist should not forget certain traditional, social values. People are free to follow their tradition, religion, faith and belief. Any society has its own evolutionary principles about life. An artist is free to present his innovative ideas but these ideas should not be against life giving principles. No artist is given a license to present his wayward views under the pretext of artistic freedom. There are certain areas that we must not touch in the life giving principles. If an artist claims that he has the freedom of expression, then, the society also can easily claim that it has the freedom to check such freedom of expression. This is also true. No artist can overlook the tone of the society before whom he is placing his work. If he overlooks, then, disaster is awaiting him. If the motivation, intention, of the artist is one of selflessness and impartiality and only aimed at the betterment of mankind, aimed at the co-existence of people and not aimed at challenging something in which he doesnt believe, such a freedom of expression will be eventually accepted by the world. Otherwise, he will be eventually challenged. This is one of the principles of life. An artist may have deviated from the common denomination of using symbols to represent an idea. People have their own general sense about images and

symbols. It is intricately woven with our tradition, belief, faith, social percepts, our sense of value of life and above all, our experience. It is a simple, yet, a complex factor. It is while we present an idea, a concept by way of symbolism that we often cross-communicate since symbols may have different meanings under different contexts. Unless the intention of the artist is clear, the context becomes just like a fog to the experiencer. It leads to misinterpretation of symbols or images. It may finally end even in a controversy. Unfortunately, both the artist and the people around him are not so sensible even though both may claim that they are. In all probability, todays artist is more of an outlaw than a feeler of humanity. He is under the guise that employments of modern techniques in art also mean toppling the general belief of people. This is not revolution. Human belief goes beyond reason. Any immoral act should be revealed and offended and an artist is free to do that but it is not at all his duty or right to offend against simple faith and belief of common people. Why did MF Hussein draw a nude picture of one of the Hindu gods? What was his intention? Why did he go against a popular belief? If he would say that he has the freedom of expression, others also have the same freedom of expression to draw the nude pictures of his wife or daughter and say that they too cannot be questioned on grounds of freedom of expression. Will M F Husain settle for that? Today, artists handle the theme of nudity with a variety of explanations. We are forced to believe their words because the society has classified them under celebrities. Today, the society has no hard and fast rules about anything if you open the e-mail pages, you can find Hot pictures, for example - and this also get reflected in art and literature (Man is merchandising nudity and sex). Actually, a loose society serves as a platform for any artist to escape with any kind of explanation for his craft work. Todays artist is trying to bring about a revolution by way of perverted ideas. It wont pay any dividends other than

creating a temporary sensation. One may get some supporters to the theory of post modernism at present but it wont be the same as always. Remember, any artist of any discipline is ultimately a social being since he is part of a society. He cannot stand apart from the rest of humanity. Being a social creature, an artist has got a commitment towards society. No artist can escape from this framework. Now, what is the aim of any social commitment? The aim is to bring in peace and harmony in the world by the presentation of an idea using brush or pen and not to bring divided thoughts among the people. One can really be a revolutionist by showing higher planes of truth not at the cost of the general beliefs and notions of life. Remember, truth is always simple. The expression of truth need not be by way of an intellectual brain storm. Giant trees may withstand storms but storms are really unfavorable for the growth of the garden of life. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx