When words fail, [art] speaks

Hans Christian Andersen’s* original quote is actually, “When words fail, music speaks.”

This quote is a small comfort as I search for meaning, for reason, for some substance that led to the tragedy of last Saturday’s shooting in Arizona. Our entire community, country and even world is searching for reasons; desperately seeking something or someone to blame. 

I turned to friends to seek out inspired thoughts, wisdom, clarity, even a little bit of sanity. My friend and colleague, Jeremy Littau; assistant professor of Journalism discusses in his blog, personal reactions to the shootings. His point is not that our uncivilized discourse in media has caused the shooting. It is “that we shouldn’t have to prove causality [of heated rhetoric causing the shooting] to convince people to argue for a more civil tone.”

I couldn’t agree more. Our culture has become one of reaction, of uncontrolled outbursts. We accept behavior that would shame our grandparents.  We have lost a value of restraint, or of carefully measured words. It is here that I make an even stronger argument for the arts.

Art, in its varied forms of expression can communicate feelings and ideas in ways that words sometimes can’t. It seems as if we have to constantly learn the impact of how art can transcend boundaries of history, culture – even politics. Art can soothe, inspire, and even provoke. At times, art can outrage. But even the most intense emotion that is communicated through an art form forces the audience to think about what the artist is saying.  And through our reactions to the experience, art can also remind us of our shared humanity.

While I was searching for verification of H.C. Andersen’s quote, I came across another. Perhaps this one resonates event more in these times.

The human soul longs for things higher, warmer, and purer than those offered by today's mass living habits, exemplified by the revolting invasion of publicity, by TV stupor, and by intolerable music.” Aleksandr Solhenitsyn (Russian author 1918-2008)

And how interesting that I find quotes from two poets to sooth my troubled soul? And these artists paint with words. What also comes to my troubled mind, is the music that will be heard at the memorial services for those killed. Of the photographic collages, the video montages, the gathering of people who will share the spirit of the people whose lives were ended so violently.

Can we move on? Can sharing our expressions through art be a catalyst for more civil discourse. Is this something every generation must learn anew? If that is the future I see before me, then it is my responsibility to keep art alive in our society. To share the masterworks of the past, and to encourage the voices of now and the future, is something we must all hold dear.

* Hans Christian Andersen (Danish author 1805-1875)