December 15, 2014 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Crisis, Quotes
Dr. Michael Laitman: Today we are undergoing a great crisis even in art because there is nothing we could express ourselves with. How can it be expressed? Through some breakdowns? Our state is dead-end. On our current level, we have nothing left to express.
We have to rise to the next degree. We simply “crawled” from our level to a certain degree, but we are not able to ascend to it. We came to a dead end in all areas of our lives: culture, education, family, economy, finance—everything, even science. We hit this next degree and can’t climb it because we do not see it.
It is especially apparent in art and culture. We have always bore witness to the creation of masterpieces. But today we have mass culture that cannot even be called “culture.”
Unfortunately, in the field of art, we no longer concern ourselves with lofty, valuable interpersonal relationships, with searching for the meaning of life; instead, we present through our mass “art” (be it print or media) only what serves bodily needs: food, sex, and family. Within this entire framework dwell our so-called works of art.
On one hand, it is certainly a pity that such events take place, but on the other, they show us the crisis from which the new state must emerge.
The new art will be completely different. It will be founded on the unity of people. Its role will be to tell us about attainment of the upper world, about a whole new range of sensations that will be revealed in the connection between us. Those will be sensations and relationships of a completely different scale, and from then on, these very sensations and relationships will be expressed through art, and therefore, through our culture.
Read the rest of this entry »
May 13, 2014 at 7:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Books, Music
Calling All Trend Setters: You Can Making Giving Fab
In order to achieve the necessary shift in our perception and lifestyle, that can help us solving the global crisis, and build a sustainable future, we have to introduce a new global education system, and change the values prevalent in society. In this change, the media has a primary role.
But as important as media is to our culture, it cannot make the required shift in spirit all by itself. To complete the shift in our thinking, we must engage actors, singers, and other public idols and celebrities in the process. Their productions are displayed not only on television, but also on the Internet, in movie theatres, and on the radio, and are vital to getting the new message across.
It is hard to predict exactly how the arts will develop once we become familiar with the giving half of reality. Because we have never tried it on a large scale, we cannot tell how things will unfold once unity and giving are in vogue. The ideas below will describe possible shifts in cinema and theatre, but the rules that apply to this art form also apply to the more traditional arts such as painting and sculpturing.
Who Else Wants Movies that Celebrate Humanity’s Full Potential?
The visual arts are the most powerful means of influence. Up to 90 percent of the information we receive on our surroundings is visual information. For this reason, a shift in our thinking must begin with what we see, even before we change what we hear.
On the surface, the plots of most movies and plays can remain pretty much the same: a fight for a just cause, a love story, or even a tragedy. But behind each plot should be a subtext that conveys a message of unity.
Read the rest of this entry »