Ink Idle

Imagine a world where men walk by women without a flicker of their eyes, a mother never smiles at her child, trees do not look green and a girl does not blush at the sight of a coming prince. A world which functions solely on purpose and purpose alone. There is no joyful recreation, no raucous laughter of inebriated men and no worried mothers. There is no action that leaves an everlasting imprint upon a man’s life and his soul. There is just a horde of well suited men and women marching to work and back to home. There is fulfilment of chores, profession and all that is mechanical in life. Won’t you be missing something essential? Yes. There is no soul. Now think of a world with a soul but where flowers do not bloom. There is romance yet not a sight to behold at the first look. There is no heart. That sudden thump of fiendish want combined with lust for a person or an object the eyes are laid upon. Things do seem amiss.

 

One can relate all of this to a work of art. A finished piece of art is like a human being. There are three basic notes to an interaction with a fellow man or woman as there are to a work of art. This is in accordance with an explanation given by the perfume maker to his pupil in the movie Perfume. He explains the intricacies of a perfume. The three chords. At this stage, I must remark that in earlier days when perfumes were not a common commercial commodity but a royalty for aristocrats, perfume making was an art held in high esteem.

 

First comes the very first impression. This may be called the head. You first lay your eyes upon the work and are struck by wonder. There is either a great texture in the entire painting, some flamboyant words in the poem that first met your eyes, a brilliant pine tree in the photograph or a striking fragrance from the perfume. It is the first essence of the art. It is meant to capture you, to make you turn your head towards it keep a hold of your fidgety attention for a moment so you may look into it further. One can relate this to meeting a a person for the first time. Attractiveness and unattractiveness is a state of mind. Due to our upbringing and culture we develop a certain kind of general taste to distinguish between what appeals to us and what does not. Despite that, there is something within us all that distinguishes us from the other person. Externally, it can be seen by our choices and our taste in music, art and people. The artist chooses the general flavour for this aspect of the art. It is the first indication to the viewer whether he should go further into the work or not. It must be mentioned that to a skilled artist, this aspect is the most basic and the most easily fulfilled one. It is the first impression that encourages us to go ahead and speak to a person or to go deeper into the work of art. It also determines our mood. A perfume that has a striking first chord would appeal to the customer in an instant.

 

Once the viewer is interested enough, he would proceed to have a conversation with the work of art as we would approach an appealing person and hope to strike a sparkling conversation. This is called the heart. Whenever you speak to a person for a longer period of time that exceeds the accepted time period of pleasantries, you subconsciously notice various characteristics of the person. How he wears his tie, how he speaks, what he speaks and his degree of politeness and flair in his language. Again, these aspects differ from culture to culture and from one strata of society to another. Art also conforms to the effect of culture and society as I’ve expressed before, art is all but the eyes of the artist and not his hand. It is the part of the art that we describe as content. The basic plot of a story, the subject matter in a painting, the most predominant riff in the music or the basic theme of the perfume. The exact word for this chord would be theme. What the art deals with. Also, one would make the classification of the art in this chord. Whether it a comedy or a tragedy; if a tragedy then is it a satire or a drama. Such discussions are done in the mind of the viewer while he is exploring the heart chord. The strength of this chord determines the impact of the art on the viewer. It also shows the mindset of the artist and exposes much of the artist’s basic viewpoint on the topic. It is the heart of the art which settles a response of the viewer which is expressed immediately the procedure of appreciation of the work of art is done. It is also the final straw on the reviewer’s part. Once the heart chord has been played, it is time for the viewer to move on.

 

But there will be something that will hold the reviewer back. Even though the plot has been understood, the characters revealed and the climax reached, there is something that calls him back and he lingers for a second. He eventually goes away but the art remains with him. The customer leaves the shop but the scent of the perfume remains with him for days. This is called the base. It comes from practice, raw talent and polishing of one’s skill. An art is deemed to be an exceptional one if it has a strong base chord. The message delivered by the artist will stay with the reader or the onlooker for a long time and he may be impacted by the art too. We often remember a person by the effect they had when they spoke to us. It is as we commonly refer to as charisma. While beauty is a first impression of a person, charisma is a post impression. We think about the person long after he has left. It may be noted that the lingering feeling may have contrasting emotions too. It depends on an individual and differs accordingly. The artist does not choose this chord. Once the plot is done and the narration is over the artist can do nothing much after that. It is how he dealt with the plot, the power in his narration, the aplomb with which he handles each moment of vigour, pain and triumph that decides the strength of this chord. In a painting or a photograph, it is the finest details. The frame, the composition; the hint of a smirk painted with dexterity or the slightly parted lips that tell a tale. It is the artist’s attention to detail and his ability to put every ingredient in just the right proportions. Not a drop less not a drop more. A lasting base chord decides the true greatness of the artist. This is the soul. The very soul for which it remains with us forever.

 

Finally, we have those exceptional works of art that have lasted through centuries and awed hundereds of generations of men and women across the world. The perfumer describes it as a mysterious chord. He says that according to legend, when a Pharoah’s tomb was opened, a perfume was smelt, such that the whole world stood still for a moment. Everyone felt as if they were in paradise. A perfume has three chords. Each chord has four notes. There are twelve notes in total. But there is a thirteenth note as well. In that Egyptian perfume, twelve notes were identified but the thirteenth could never be. It is said to be such that it dominates all the other notes and spreads throughout thereby putting the person in a trance and a sensation that he was present in his wonderlands. If in a piece of art, there is this note of legend, it is one that will last till eternity. Such shall be the strength of the work that for thousands of years its beauty shall not be lost as the perfume’s whose notes were intact even after three thousand years. One may simply look at the Sphinx or the Colosseum. Two of the greatest architectural wonders. Ever though tempests and unfair winds have shattered a part of them but yet after thousands of years they still awe us. It’s as if the very artisans who worked, the people of that age can still be heard distinctly. In work of literature, Cicero, Plato, and numerous philosophers’ works have not only passed from century to century but they still provoke thought and they are still revered.

 

For an art to be a great work, it must have the three chords in proportion. The artist can consciously only manipulate the first and second. It is the artist’s devotion to his work, his perspective and his creativity that decides the third. It needs either supreme talent or years of practice for the artist to create a balanced work. Great artists are not born when they hold a quill. They are born when they look at the world in their own unique way and then raise a quill to amaze themselves. An artist is a magician. But before he amazes his audience, the artist must amaze himself.