Art and Escapism

What is the purpose of art? When does art become escape? What is escapism? Is escapism bad? Here are four questions for you to consider. I don't have the answers, but I was hoping you could help me find some.

(Edit: Shortened)

edited 6th Dec '10 11:28:00 PM by ViralLamb

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

I read your post before it got ninja'd! Don't worry too much, you're only 18. You've got plenty of time.

That's what they say I'm still dissapointed it has taken this long for me to realize all of this.

I'd edited the "junk" part and put it into its own post in IJBM. It seemed to be inappropriate for OTC.

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

I worried about this for a while, until I came to the (to me) logical (and depressing) endpoint-that every form of entertainment was escapism, of a sort. Fun, itself, is escapism from the harsh realities of life, stuff that we avoid thinking about-brutal, unpleasant tortures and deaths that happen millions of times a day, our own mortality, etc. Stuff we can't even wrap our minds around, not really.

But then, I realized that fun isn't valueless, at least not to me. So some degree of escapism, or fun, is perfectly normal-AFAIK, we'd eventually break down in a life devoid of something we think of as "fun". The only real problem is how much fun to have. If it's not interfering with your practical existance, i.e. school, making a living, other things necessary for survival...you're probably not having problems with escapism.

Look, you can't make me speak in a logical, coherent, intelligent bananna.

To express something. What that something is varies.

Pointless question; no definition of "escape" given.

Same problem as the previous question.

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

Make your own definition. Escape is a subjective thing. Please, provide us all with a definition if you would be so kind.

Should I post all the words in the dictionary for you?

edited 6th Dec '10 7:06:18 PM by ViralLamb

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

I don't think asking for parameters to answer the question within is unreasonable, and you certainly don't have to make that type of comment. I'm aware that the definitions of most words are subjective, which is why I'm asking you to define the important ones in that sentence so I can give you a meaningful answer.

I'm sorry if you thought I was trying to provoke you, I wasn't.

edited 6th Dec '10 7:32:46 PM by SpainSun

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

I was just being cranky. I'll add the question "What is escapism?" to the op. Seems obvious now that I think about it. Honestly, I don't have a steadfast definition myself.

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

A purpose is an intention. Intentions are the product of minds. Thus a particular endeavor can have no single objective purpose, but rather different purposes, depending on the minds of those engaged in them. I can't speak for the creators of art(other than myself), but the purpose of my consumption of it is usually, if not always, escapism.

Eh. People who state that all entertainment is escapism are just projecting the way THEY enjoy fiction onto other people. I personally absolutely hate escapism, and all the advocacy of it irritates me to no end. When I want a stupid consoling fantasy, I make up my own, in my own head. But when I read a book, or watch a film, or whatever, I want something that satisfies higher needs. Which is why I barely read books/watch movies anymore, most of stuff out there are just silly fantasies.

edited 7th Dec '10 1:10:02 AM by fanty

Not just fiction, any entertainment. Entertainment is what we do with our time when we're not busy surviving, to stave off thinking about (i.e. escape from, mentally) bleak and depressing realities. But if you assign value to entertainment, to feeling good...

Of course, I came up with this when I was depressed, so you're free to dismiss it on those grounds.

edited 7th Dec '10 6:18:26 PM by deathjavu

Look, you can't make me speak in a logical, coherent, intelligent bananna.

I think most of us have engaged in some activity at one point in order to get our minds off of something unpleasant.

Ruining everything forever.

Joy is in what you do. Why does it have to be an escape from the bad? Why can't it be towards the good?

Is the bleak more important than the joyful?

| DA Page | Sketchbook |

I'm not seeing the discussion I was hoping for, so I suppose I should show my own current opinions.

I have lived my life escaping from my life. I've played video games, watched movies, television programs, listened to music, and read novels all for the sake of distraction. There are things I don't want to think about. All of them having to do with my future and self-hatred.

But, instead of working on myself and my problems, I ignore and suppress them. I always find a way to escape my fears. This has been going on for as long as I can remember. And everything in my life has suffered as a result.

I'm working on this. And as I do, I can see with more and more clarity how this is negatively affecting people. I don't like this. I could write a lot more about this, but this is too long already.

The point: Nothing good can come of escaping your fears.

(My mind is a mess right now, please excuse the odd nature of this post.)

edited 8th Dec '10 3:55:22 PM by ViralLamb

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

I imagine it's both simultaneously. One needn't feel good in order to escape feeling bad, after all. Mere sleep or death would be sufficient means of achieving escape.

It is to me. Of course, importance, being a value perception, is subjective.

Each defines for himself and only for himself what constitutes "good".

True.

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

I've never felt like my art was somehow "less important" than the rest of my life, so I don't feel guilty when I prioritize my art over other things.

Have I sufficiently "unpacked" escapism yet? Or am I still missing something?

| DA Page | Sketchbook |

You seem to be making the mistake that people who make/consume art do so only to escape from their fears/life/etc. Speaking as an artist, I quite honestly think I'd go insane if I suddenly stopped being able to make music. Forever. I don't think it's a matter of escapism, because I make my music all the time, happy, sad, good day, bad day, it's all the same. At the end of the day, I sit down in front of my computer and fiddle with synthesizers for at least a little while. It gives my life some sense of purpose and direction, and I'd rather have that than appease the people who think that art is only a means to an end.

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

I'll concede that nothing good can come from ignoring or suppressing your problems forever. But that's not the purpose of escapism; it's to escape your problems temporarily. Life can be frustrating, even overwhelmingly so; it gets to a point that you NEED a short vacation from reality every now and then just to keep yourself sane.

I love to learn, I love to yearn, and most of all... I love to make money.

I was talking only about escapism, not art. I never said "art" was just for the purpose of escaping.

edited 8th Dec '10 7:48:11 PM by ViralLamb

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

Fortunately, it is unnecessary to ignore/suppress one's problems forever. One need only hold out until death provides permanent escape from all problems.

On another note, art/entertainment can serve to help one deal with one's problems. For example, my performance in a recent temporary job benefited from the elevated mood generated by reading Cracked articles before going to work. Also, I have for many years used a pain management technique learned from an episode of The Invisible Man.

It's like I said, every form of entertainment is escapism from less pleasant activities and realities, but it's still necessary, and the enjoyment derived isn't necessarily valueless  ^*

On the other hand, one still needs to balance entertainment against practical considerations, but that's obvious

edited 8th Dec '10 11:16:35 PM by deathjavu

Look, you can't make me speak in a logical, coherent, intelligent bananna.