G. Steve Journal

What Art Does...

In actor and author Wendell Pierce's book, "The Wind In The Reeds" about post-Katrina New Orleans, he recounts his experience acting in the play "Waiting For Godot" and how it resonated with Lower Ninth Ward residents who had lost everything.

The play's director, Paul Chan, asked if it helped achieve social justice or political change, replied that it did not:

It brought people together, yes, but he was trying to bring about "articulate speechlessness." He went on: "My mind was cleared for something else to happen, which I think is what art does.  If you do it right, that's what happens."

All Creation...

Viewing this dreamy composite photograph of the Catskill range taken at dusk, one is reminded of the famous exchange in James Fenimore Cooper’s novel “The Pioneers” in which the protagonist, Natty Bumpo, is asked whether venturing out to such scenic spots is worth the effort:

“What do you see when you get there?…"

“Creation!” said Natty, … sweeping one hand around him in a circle –– “all creation, lad…”

 

Big Questions

Another jewel from author and actor Wendell Pierce, this time from his new book, “The Wind In The Reeds,” about Pierce’s boyhood in New Orleans and his path to the wider world, especially his artistic path:

Together, we look for answers to the same big questions. That’s why we go to the theater. That’s why we go to the art museum. That’s why we go to the club or the concert hall. Seeking that moment of connection or collective catharsis with our fellow human beings –– that is the magic and the mystery that artists conjure. That is why we become artists.

 

One's Own Way

 

To go wrong in one's own way is better then to go right in someone else's.

                                                                                  –– Fyodor Dostoyevsky

[thanks Goodreads]