As an elementary school rascal in Upland,
California, I attended the G.A.T.E. program—gifted and talented
education. Classes centered around developing pattern identification skills to better draw connections between disparate things or ideas. Was I proud? You bet I was. A young kid among the local intellectual elite. Here, though, I want to write about why my
opinion on that has changed. Intelligence isn't an apex trait, just another attribute of the complete human.
How do you define intelligence? Street smarts? Ethical reasoning? Imagination? Appeal? Wit?
The geniuses of art make their messages easy to digest. They don't have to be complicated, and even when they are, they provoke emotion more than they bewilder. Albrecht Dürer's symbolism stirred questions, while Jackson Pollack's splatter paintings introduced a whirlwind in which viewers could find their own place.
The geniuses of art make their messages easy to digest. They don't have to be complicated, and even when they are, they provoke emotion more than they bewilder. Albrecht Dürer's symbolism stirred questions, while Jackson Pollack's splatter paintings introduced a whirlwind in which viewers could find their own place.
 |
| Did Dürer predict the Krampus? |
In Room 237, a
documentary that explores Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, narrators reference the director's high IQ. Kubrick
was a skilled chess player. His film shows it, and the documentary highlights subtle symbols found throughout as proof of his genius.
Don't get me wrong, I love The Shining, but when I compare it to The Sandlot, I don't see a huge genius gap. Instead, the latter film rings endearingly true to the quirks of childhood. While their subjects may not share much in common, the two films capture the desire to find belonging (although one of the stories is about a guy going nuts when he can't find it).
Intelligence is found in both films, even though only one director reigns as a genius. Intelligence isn't an appropriate metric to evaluate which film is better, because art isn't about intelligence—it's about what it feels like to be human. If art isn't just a thing to be observed but an experience to be shared, intelligence could even impede the process, resonating as "out of touch" with viewers.
Don't get me wrong, I love The Shining, but when I compare it to The Sandlot, I don't see a huge genius gap. Instead, the latter film rings endearingly true to the quirks of childhood. While their subjects may not share much in common, the two films capture the desire to find belonging (although one of the stories is about a guy going nuts when he can't find it).
Intelligence is found in both films, even though only one director reigns as a genius. Intelligence isn't an appropriate metric to evaluate which film is better, because art isn't about intelligence—it's about what it feels like to be human. If art isn't just a thing to be observed but an experience to be shared, intelligence could even impede the process, resonating as "out of touch" with viewers.
Love, anger, embarrassment, diligence, courage, and countless
other impulses compel us toward action (or inaction), and regardless of how smart we may be, life's challenges always escape our best understandings. Rapid pattern recognition can't conceal the misery of a broken heart, nor should it.
Art is rich when our most base emotions come together in chorus and remind us of what we share. It really is a gift when anyone shares an honest work with the world, and IQ-style intelligence doesn't have the corner market on what relates to others. Forget about the muse you wish you had. Make an homage to your unique influences.
Art is rich when our most base emotions come together in chorus and remind us of what we share. It really is a gift when anyone shares an honest work with the world, and IQ-style intelligence doesn't have the corner market on what relates to others. Forget about the muse you wish you had. Make an homage to your unique influences.
Comments
Post a Comment