Some Thoughts on the Nature of Art in Our Time. By Ted flicker   Almost inevitably, when the “What do you do?” conversation starts, it goes like this. What do you do? I’m a sculptor. Oh really. What kind? Figurative stuff. Uh huh. Female nudes and portraits; many of them of the artists we collect. Uh huh. It is always a slightly uncomfortable exchange for me because it’s superficial and leads nowhere. Then one day I heard my mouth say, “I’m a Transcendental Sculptor.” And that got us into a serious conversation. So what is a Transcendental Artist?  Hang on. I suppose if I knew “The Truth”  this piece would be a hell of a lot shorter, but like some artists, philosophers, scientists, the odd theologian and possibly a rare politician, I only get a glimpse at it every once in a while, if I work hard — and am lucky. Over the years, I’ve come to believe that there‘s no such thing as  “True Representational art,”  or True  “Modern Art,”  or True “Contemporary Art” or True “Isms.”   All there really is, is True Art. There is only one definition for True Art.  It is the Art that  gives us a glimpse  into The Ultimate Truth. Success in the reach for that possibly Unobtainable Goal may only be determined by two events: the sum total of the work — Subject plus Technique, plus what happens between *The Unknown and the Artist’s Unknown. All of these elements are Essential for a Work of Art to Transcend the mundane.   And one more thing; the Work of Art must reveal the same Truth to those who view the work.  That revelation can take place in the conscious mind or the unconscious — sometimes both. The Unknown is the source of these thoughts. The Unknown is the source of Good Art. The Unknown is the source of Religion.  And for me, as it was for Lermontov, Art is my Religion.  And to be that it must be Transcendent. The Unknown, presented first to the World in the mythology of the Sinai Pilgrims, their chroniclers and epigones, and embellished over the millennia by the Talmud, The Christian Bible, and the Koran is the Source, the Origin of Transcendental Art. Thus for a Work of Art to be defined as an example of Transcendental Realism, it must present us with the Awe-Inspiring — not necessarily intellectual — questions of Universal Existence. It was the sublime Abraham Joshua Heschel who taught us that “Awe is the beginning of Wisdom.” And Wisdom is the first step to a sense of  **Divine Presence. And Divine Presence is experienced by contact with The Unknown. The awareness of the existence of such a thing as The Unknown is that element of the Work of Art, which we suspect, first appears to the Artist in what Freud may or may not have ever intended by naming its source as the “The Unconscious.”  The German word he actually wrote was “Unbewurst” whose meaning is Unconscious and/or Unknown.” Which nicely matches up with a more easily understood Concept of a God or Gods,  who are and always have been The Unknown. We make up stories, myths, adorations about them or it, but they remain The Unknown. Every true Artist (as opposed to the Technically Competent hack) experiences those moments when the work takes on its own life, when the hands are no longer controlled by the Conscious Mind, when colors and lines astonish the Artist with their Unplanned Appearance on the canvas, when the Clay is pushed into a Form Unthought of by the Sculptor. “Gee where did that come from?” In our lack of sophistication we call the moment Inspiration or a Visitation from The Muse. Can it be that this Magical Moment is a Direct Communication between The Unknown and our Personal Unknown? When we are young we even think this Inspiration, this Communication is a thing of Luck rather than Technique. As we mature, some of us learn the skill of intentionally bringing about these exchanges with The Unknown. Those of us who never acquire this skill are driven to drink, or dope or dementia. Dementia? Yes. Well what about VanGogh? What about him? Are you saying he was crazy because he never could reach that sacred place? No. There is a fundamental tale in the Jewish Mystical Tradition about four great Rabbis who with near supernatural effort work their way into the presence of The Unknown. The myth goes like this.: The great sages; Rabbis Ben Azzai, Ben Zoma, Ben Avuyah and Rabbi Akiva, through rituals of asceticism and purification ascend though seven heavens and through seven palaces in the highest heaven. They crossed rivers of fire and past horrible creatures attempting to devour them. At last they stood before the curtained presence of The Unknown. There they heard. “He who speaks untruth shall not stand before my eyes.” The curtain parted. Ben Azzai dropped dead. Ben Zoma was struck blind. Ben Avuya became an instant apostate and lived in an agony of uncertainty all his days. Rabbi Akiva departed in peace a Sage for all his people for a thousand years. It is not given to all Artists, no matter the depth of their Talent, to survive the Search for The Ultimate Truth. Was Van Gogh’s dementia a result of a chemical imbalance? Did he have the crazy gene? Or when the Curtain parted for him did it make him Mad? We know of Artists who are Addicted to their Work to the exclusion of all else in their lives, family, friends and personal health.  Have they traveled to the Seventh Palace?  Have they stood before The Curtain? But what about the Hacks? The Kitsch Makers? Don’t they experience the same Joy of Inspiration from their Personal Unknown? No. They think they do. They’re wrong. In the Half Century I have been  struggling with it, both privately and publicly, I have  learned that Art cannot be Good unless it reveals to both Artist and Viewing-Participant—perhaps only with the duration of a nanosecond — a facet of The Unknown. Then and Only Then is the Art Transcendent. This is true whether the Art is Representational, Abstract, Impressionist, Primitive or any of the other categories or styles we invent.  It is never true if the work is merely Joyfully Superficial, Purely Intellectual, or no more than Concept. The True Artist Risks Everything; Self, Soul, Everything, in the making of each work: Rivers of Fire, Horrible Devouring Creatures. Without this risk there can never be Good Art. Can Art with superb mechanical technique and fascinating subject matter fail to be Transcendent? Of course it can.  Unless the Artist masters the Inner Techniques of Opening the Communication from his or her Personal Unknown, with The Unknown the work will Fail. Do they teach this Discipline in Art Schools? In MFA programs? Do they  even recognize the need to teach it? Not likely. However there is an Art Form that cannot exist without the acquisition of this Indispensable Inner Technique, this Inner Communication on demand. Theater.  From the very beginning of Student Training, Stage Acting requires it. If the audience that comes to the Theater on a dreary Tuesday evening is entitled to the same Electrifying Performance as the happy-revelers of a Saturday night, than The Actor cannot wait around for The Muse to show up or not. The Actor, no matter what his/her Condition; Happy or Depressed, Sober or Drunk, must open the Communication with The Unknown. The Good and the Great do it with hardly any noticeable effort. It becomes as Second Nature to them as Breathing. The same is true of the Good to Great  sculptors  and painters.  Can a Democratic Society survive without self discipline? It cannot any more than Good Art can without Technical and Spiritual Discipline.   So far my Philosophy like all Manifestos hammered together at the beginning of Various Art Movements, states its positions in Immutables. However, I have learned that Immutables , by the very Rule of Nature, can only be Temporary. They must turn into “…Mutations that remain true to the cause but respond to the times. ” Paradox? Of course! Life without Paradox is untenable. The open embrace of these Mutations of The Immutables is essential if a Work of Art is to Transcend Technique and Subject and lift the All Participants above their struggling selves. The historic and perpetually Inevitable Collision between the Absolutists and Relativists has reoccurred in our era. Absolutism vs. Relativism. If one is True how can The Other also be true? True. Blood flows in the gutters of the intelligentsia. The gore is unnecessary. Both are correct. But how can that be? Paradox. Paradox? Life is Paradox. Art can only exist in Paradox. Relative Truth exists only in the presence of Absolute Truth. Madness. Consider. The only Immutable Truth is the Ultimate Truth which happens to be behind the curtain shielding The  Unknown. How do we know that?  We don’t. We strongly suspect it. We’d like to believe it. It’s reasonable then to assume that Our Immutable is not quite as Immutable as The Immutable. That being the case we may enjoy the Paradox of Our Immutable being relatively, almost unobservably, perhaps even minusculy, Flexible. Thus Relativism and Absolutism in their gross form seem Incompatible. But upon careful, perhaps even Artistic, Observation we find that they are Parts Of The Same Whole. Solid Boundaries upon Artistic Examination are Revealed as Mirage and become Pathways to Transcendence. The Fashionable Art World — always a dangerous place for Artists — may one day understand and even accept the  inclusion of Transcendence as the Essential Element before a Work of Art my be considered “Good.” Historically such a thing rarely happens unless it is preceded by a Cataclysm. Well we have had one and are suddenly thrust into a nasty secret war in our very homes and work places. Our vulnerability to the horrors faced by so much of what used to be the Third World, the instability of the stock market and the loss of faith in the dollar machine is bringing many of us to face the Essential Questions. The problem is; most people don’t even know what those questions are.   That is Our job. That is the job of Transcendental Realism. By use of the comfortably familiar we can loft people into the glorious unfamiliar. Transcendental Realism returns the Great Questions to the Common Society. George Bernard Shaw maintained that it is the function of Artists to Open Little Windows to give the common man a glimpse of Paradise, a fleeting moment of Perfection. Perhaps one day when Humankind is Perfected, when We Are All The Messiah, there will be no need for Artists, but till then it is only through the Awesome Beauty of Good Art that mortals get an Intimation of Paradise. It’s the Good Artist, the Artist of genius who is able to open those views of the Ultimate Truths. It is why Art is a Calling, not a job.   Ultimate Truth is the whole case against Kitsch, the No Technique Artists, and the Esthetic Barbarians. Sometime ago, The New York Times ran an article in which various people were asked for their definition of Art. The one that made the most sense for these Confusing Times was, “Art is anything that anyone says it is.” Why not?  But Good Art?  Good Art.   Good Art requires Standards Of Excellence. A dangerous phrase Standards Of Excellence. In these times of political correctness; of competitions where no child is allowed to lose, of adjusted grades and social promotions, the very concept of Standards Of Excellence has become anathema. Are the standards of Good Art Immutable? Of course not. The first sign of Immutability is the first Rot of Decadence.  So how does the Immutable become Mutable?  Transcendence is arrived at by an Infinite Number of Paths. Each Good Artist finds a Path, or Many Paths, all of them by way of the work. The Danger to the Good Artist and to Good Art is the Seduction of the Comfort found in taking the Same Path more than once. How long will it be before that Path becomes a Trail, then A Road, then an Interstate? Immutable therefore Decadent. The slide to Kitsch begins with the  Comfort of a Well Worn Path. This has happened to many a Revolution, Artistic as well as political. An Art Revolution begins with attacks on the Stultified Academy of the period. The Mob Assembles, the Old Standards guillotined and the Reign of Terror wipes out the decadent standards. New freedom is proclaimed, New Vision Sanctified, Great Work flourishes, and the New Ideas move into the residences of the fallen academy. Stalin appears (the new Art Establishment) and what was Fluid begins to Harden, and in a blink Truth is Lies. Beauty is ugly, Technique is a cheat. Seeking the Ultimate Truth is an act of Revisionism punishable by death. The New Immutables are in place and for a while their apparatchiks prosper as did the murdered Academy before them. A new subversive movement begins to stir. Truth and Beauty are secretly searched for. And in this new millennium the new revolutionaries are the Transcendental Realists. Us. Will we win? Will Technique again be taught in our MFA programs? Will the search for Ultimate Truth produce Beauty in the land? Will we be Corrupted by Money and Celebrity to turn our Secret Paths into Concrete Interstates?  We shall see.   *The Unknown: Please forgive the unwieldy use of these words. The generic, “God,” could not have worked for obvious reasons — rational to fanatic. Witness the Attorney General of the United States of America preserving the modesty of his God, by draping the bare breast of an eighty year old Beaux Art sculpture. The word God, G-D, etc. has different meanings for practically everyone on this planet.  Hence I run for cover to my — The Unknown — a form of the ineffable organizing principal of the known universe. I cannot use the word, “God” which inspires in most people of the Western World a vision of the bearded old guy on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel giving the finger to Adam. Which is merely art.  Art. Transcendental Realism. **Divine Presence: ditto.