Ever been at a museum and seen a piece that just seemed to beg to be touched, but you couldn't because it was either out of reach, behind glass, or just because it was forbidden to touch it? Or have you ever perhaps seen a dessert cart go by with something you wanted to taste, because it looked so good, but you couldn't?
There is in human aesthetic appreciation a similar feeling. It is desire, but not necessarily carnal desire. It is erotic without being overtly sexual. And when it is denied, as it usually is, the feeling is, well, almost painful. But in a good way.
Appreciation of these subtle shades of desire, and their value when denied, is too often cast aside in our world of petty lusts and instant gratifications. To be tantalized is the painful pleasure of every true aesthete, and to tantalize others thus must be the goal of every artist who tries to create anything he or she calls "beautiful".
no subject
Not at all.
Ever been at a museum and seen a piece that just seemed to beg to be touched, but you couldn't because it was either out of reach, behind glass, or just because it was forbidden to touch it? Or have you ever perhaps seen a dessert cart go by with something you wanted to taste, because it looked so good, but you couldn't?
There is in human aesthetic appreciation a similar feeling. It is desire, but not necessarily carnal desire. It is erotic without being overtly sexual. And when it is denied, as it usually is, the feeling is, well, almost painful. But in a good way.
Appreciation of these subtle shades of desire, and their value when denied, is too often cast aside in our world of petty lusts and instant gratifications. To be tantalized is the painful pleasure of every true aesthete, and to tantalize others thus must be the goal of every artist who tries to create anything he or she calls "beautiful".