What d'ya think about this? "All art is quite useless."?

Question

Oscar Wilde said it, not me

Answer 1

oscar wilde was being, ironic but truthful, and not at all critical of the great value of art to the human spirit. art is quite useless in the *utilitarian* sense. it isn't a piece of machinery that produces something. it isn't a means to some practical and capitalistic end. what it does "produce", if it is true art, is a sense of awe and an experience of connection with something infinite/transcendant in the viewer, reader, etc.

Answer 2

I'll quote from memory and I'm not absolutely sure about the punctuation; anyway, what OSCAR WILDE actually said was:

'We can forgive a man for making a useful thing so long as he does not admire it; the only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.'

This is the complete statement. Many people seem impressed by the last sentence and like to quote it out of the context, make pathetic comments and generally argue with it, completely missing the point OSCAR WILDE makes.

Here's another quote: '...nowadays, one has either to feed people, amuse people, or shock people - that is all!'
Come on, people, shriek: 'Oscar Wilde made a useless statement!' - I'm sure that would have amused him intensely.

Answer 3

Oscar Wilde was a known pervert. This saying of his is an instance in point. He was not the first to declare art as anethema.The Puritans under Oliver Chromwell who briefly ruled England had also suppressed all forms of art in England. A main reason for their overthrow and succession of Charles II was this suppressed anger of the masses.In Indina history the puritanical devout Muslim king Aurangzeb had similarly addressed a funeral procession of arts through the streets of Delhi. He advised the mourners to ensure that the agigators were deep below so that it
does not come out.His successors were all happy go-lucky and in fact the Mughal sultanat e rapidly during this period.

Answer 4

Afraid Oscar is wrong. Art has many forms. It does not mean just paintings, sculptures etc. The written word is an art form. So does that make his words useless?

Answer 5

yeah!!
Oscar is right

see this world
it has witnessed Art in many phenomenal periods, i.e. from Renaissance to Magical Realism. It has received some applauds and so many coindemnations!!!! but it is never able to live upto the expectations of the literary masters. They are never able to establish their own ideal world. The world will remain same, it has read, read, is reading and will read but it will never learn.

Answer 6

I am an engineer and I am very passionate about visual art, I think it's what keep me sane sometime. As for the other disciplines of arts, I am not sure, be a professor in arts?

Answer 7

Art, in itself may not have any functionality other than to please the eye of the artist or the observer. I cannot quite agree with the quote, for to some it has functionality if just to inspire or spur emotions.

Answer 8

Art is not useless.

Answer 9

noooooooooooo this is a useless statement.
but different people different thoughts i dont agree with this statement but neither do i say i am against oscarwilde's (or anyone to that matter)statement

Answer 10

Well, it's quite true isn't it?