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Western Culture holds a particular proneness to metaphysical killings. First, it was God, then the Meaning, the Self, later on, the Author, and now we are aiming at Art. However, each time a new God, Meaning, or Self has been summoned up from the old ones. It appears that such dynamics are part of our tradition and are symbolically represented by the archetype of the Phoenix, forever resurrecting, back from its ashes. If we search for the sources of these revolutionary movements in history, we could trace them back to ancient Greece's shift from mythological thinking to Philosophy, or even before that in Mesopotamian and Egyptian periodical movements from one Supreme God to another.
On the one hand, it looks like a childish inconstancy or an eternal will for power, which just annihilates the old beliefs for the sake of control and influence, but on the other hand, that is the rejuvenating Dionysian force of our culture. For each time an Idol is brought down, that is not a total obliteration, at least not of all the elements of the previous paradigm but rather a movement that re-fuels the collective mental and emotional needs of the new ages. For instance, when the Renaissance surged in the world of Art in the 15th century, it opposed the dogmatic Christian standards for themes in painting or how artists should depict the human body, and yet, some of the most sublime and exquisite works from that period represent Christian personages.
Art, Science, and Religion are essential and natural parts of the human spirit and cannot be literally killed. They could be rather transformed, re-shaped, and revolutionized. All revolutionary shifts resemble the old saying: Art is Dead! Long Live The Art!
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