The Artist and the Artisan

February 20, 2009

A comment from appreciating my "alphabet verse" set me thinking about the difference between art and artisanship...

Artisanship…is clever,excites sometimes fleeting admiration….can be replicated,is not necessarily creative.

Art…is wise,excites longer-lasting feelings and really moves one… is unique, and is always creative.

But I agree that there are lots of things which straddle the border between these two….

So, I am still wondering…is word-play art? or artisanship? Do I somehow seem as if I think of artisanship (eg, painting a copy of an Old Master) rather less than a work of art? Is it not valuable in its own right? Is a beautifully executed copy of a Holbein less than a daub of original brushstrokes? How should I rate my abcd verse…well, I just said it, it’s verse! …if what distinguishes verse from poetry is the emotion it evokes, does that difference hold true for all art?

I find the music in the “India” ads and even the Airtel signature tune so haunting, is it the same as the majesty of a rAgam treated in a Carnatic music concert?

Would like your thoughts on this. I am not very articulate about this right now, and would like to think it through.