Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Agnes Martin, "Beauty is the Mystery of Life"

When I think of art, I think of beauty. Beauty is the mystery of life. It is not in the eye, it is in my mind. In our minds there is awareness of perfection. 

All artwork is about beauty; all positive work represents it and celebrates it. All negative art protests the lack of beauty in our lives. When a beautiful rose dies, beauty does not die because it is not really in the rose. Beauty is an awareness in the mind. It is a mental and emotional response that we make. We respond to life as though it were perfect. When we go into a forest we do not see the fallen rotting trees. We are inspired by a multitude of uprising trees. We even hear a silence when it is not really silent. When we see a newborn baby we say it is beautiful – perfect.

The goal of life is happiness and to respond to life as though it were perfect is the way to happiness. It is also the way to positive artwork.

Take advantage of the awareness of perfection in your mind. See perfection in everything around you. See if you can discover your true feelings when listening to music. Make happiness your goal. The way to discover the truth about this life is to discover yourself. Say to yourself, What do I like and what do I want? Find out exactly what you want in life. Ask your mind for inspiration about everything.

Beauty illustrates happiness: the wind in the grass, the glistening waves following each other, the flight of birds – all speak of happiness.

The clear blue sky illustrates a different kind of happiness, and the soft dark night a different kind. There are an infinite number of different kinds of happiness.

To progress in life you must give up the things that you do not like. Give up doing the things that you do not like to do. You must find the things that you do like – the things that are acceptable to your mind.

You can see that you will have to have time to yourself to find out what appeals to your mind. While you go along with others, you are not really living your life.

To rebel against others is just as futile. You must find your way.

Happiness is being on the beam with life – to feel the pull of life.