Are all beautiful words of art good works of art?

How do you distinguish between something being beautiful and it being good?

15 responses to “Are all beautiful words of art good works of art?”

  1. I don’t think I’d want to make that call.

    Jim Carrey likes to point out how amazing it is to just bring something into existence that wasn’t there before. I think that’s were the beauty & the good really is.

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  2. Jear77 says:

    There is a picture, a famous full length portrait realy called “the picture of Dorrian Gray” which was specifically designed for the movie “The portrait of Dorrian Gray.” Part of the reason it’s hidious is because it was designed for studio lights, which distorts the colors.The picture is hidious, but it shows the depravity of this man’s soul after wishing that he remained as he was but the picture would change.

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  3. griz says:

    Not necessarily. I’ve produced photos that by considerable consensus are “good”, but not overly beautiful. I did an exposé on death and decay once; and a think a lot of war or famine photos fall into this category.

    Likewise, I’ve produced photos that a beautiful, but don’t have a lot of depth to them. They are good in the same way that candy is good.

    Consider too the sheer number of characters from myth and story who were “not good” (actually, embodiments of evil) who were said to be stunningly beautiful: Hela, Kali, Lucifer, the Sirens.

    There is a link to beauty and something being good. And truly creative process is good. But the end result; not always!

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    • Scarlett says:

      @griz well, that is a whole other question, do fictional characters exist? Please share an example of your good versus beautiful photos.

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      • griz says:

        @Scarlett
        Does my photo of the Red Rock with the Autumn Leaves actually exist? The chances of anyone finding the same spot at the same time of year with the same light conditions is so low as to be practically non-existent. Plus I might have Photoshopped it!

        Albert Camus says that fiction is the lie that can teach us a truth. The characters I mentioned are a function of both art and archetype — the latter being a form of transcultural and trans-temporal Truth. That’s why they persist.

        That is why fiction like Harry Potter and Star Wars are good and will likely persist (so long as they keep people like Kathleen Kennedy away from them!).

        Most of my good photos are on my laptop. I’ll have to wait for some spare time and good Wi-Fi to post them.

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  4. five2one says:

    Good, ultimately has power to do good. It may be then. It may be later.

    Some words, are everlasting magic.

    Food, for the soul. That makes it awake. To immortality. Reality.

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