Why this argument? Well, I was inspired by a TV show that I started to watch about a month ago, thanks to Youtube algorithms. At one point, struck by the beauty and charisma of one of the characters, I literally stopped the show and got up in excitement. I felt life in me - joy - like the first time when I saw the Alps or Swedish woods and lakes or the illuminated Parliament of Budapest from the Danube river or Dürer's Self-Portrait. Beauty has always had such an effect on me. I have always strived for it although we were thought that it had no value, that it was something superficial, vain and fleeting. But, wherever I lived, whatever I did, I have always tried to find beauty and harmony there: in nature, in an industrial zone, in a movement, in an animal, in a car, in a building, in a face. It brings me joy and peace of mind; it gives me consolation when I need it. It inspires me and lifts me up.
While searching for some answers, I found essays on beauty and art by Sir Roger Scruton, an English philosopher and writer deceased last year. This is what he said in his 2009 documentary Why Beauty Matters:
“Beauty is a value as important as truth and goodness. (…) Through the pursuit of beauty we shape the world as our home and in doing so, we both amplify our joys and find consolation for our sorrows. Art and music shine a light of meaning on ordinary life. Through them, we are able to confront the things that trouble us and to find peace in their presence. This capacity of beauty to redeem our suffering is one reason why beauty can be seen as a substitute for religion. For Plato, beauty was a path to God while thinkers of the Enlightenment saw art and beauty as ways in which we save ourselves from meaningless routines and rise to a higher level.
However, artists today feel an urge to mock the pursue of beauty. This willful desecration is also a denial of love. Art became a slave to the consumer culture, feeding our pleasures and addictions and wallowing in self-disgust. In our culture today, the advert is more important than a work of art. And artworks often try to capture our attention as adverts do by being brush or outrageous. Like adverts, today’s works of art aim to create a brand, even if they have no product to sell, except themselves.
Beauty matters. It is not just a subjective thing, but a universal need of human beings. If we ignore this need, we find ourselves in a spiritual desert. The path outside that desert leads to home."
