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From: brust@hyper.UUCP (Steven Brust)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: critics (Long!!) What is art?
Message-ID: <248@hyper.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 12-Sep-85 10:09:01 EDT
Article-I.D.: hyper.248
Posted: Thu Sep 12 10:09:01 1985
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> 
> For me, great art should have both style and structure and the two
> should complement each other. Experiments with style may be fun for
> the author and interesting for the literate but without a
> complementing structure, the result is unlikely to be great art.

This is, I think, the essence.  Given a story to tell,
or a theme to explore, a writer may choose from an infinite
number of structures that will handle it.  Only one, in any
given case, is the best.  While form and content (terms I'm
more comfortable with) may be discussed separately, content
determines form.  It is the interaction (and, frequently,
the conflict) between them that allows knowledge to develop.

And as for what is art, try this for part of the
definition: the process of exposing the underlying contradictions
that are hidden in mundane life through crafting a work
that is esthetically (sp?) pleasing.

			-- SKZB


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