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Favorite Quotes

Art is a hammer? Really, Karl Marx?

Picture of Karl Marx
Karl Marx

‚Art is not a mirror to reflect the world, but a hammer with which to shape it.’ (Karl Marx)

Actu­ally, I don’t fully agree with Karl. Ok, right... some­times art is abused just to reflect the artist’s opin­ion about a cer­tain thing or to show cer­tain people who behave in a way the artist dis­likes how bad they are. Movies are more likely affected by that wag­ging finger, usu­ally doc­u­men­taries but also fic­tional movies. The prob­lem is:

You can’t change a bad thing just by point­ing at it with a finger (or a camera). You have to show us how to make it better! To know what is bad is a good start at most. We need ALTERNATIVES to change the world! So far so good.

But do we also need to change the GOOD THINGS??

Well... a hammer can shape, a sickle can cut off... But some thing should stay the way they are, even need our protection!

I think art is a great mirror in many cases. A mirror to reflect the GOOD and BEAUTIFUL THINGS in our world to open our eyes and give us hope!

Just my 2 cents.

Morning Reflection
Morn­ing Reflec­tion | Artist: Gerald Stokes
What do YOU think?

Is art a mirror or a hammer?  Please drop your 2 cents below! :)

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