Tolstoy's theory of art, while unhelpfully broad, also gets to one of the main points about an underlying foundation of art: communication. Art is not meant to be enjoyed in isolation. Art is meant to grow out of community, to be shared, talked about, argued about, and even disliked. It is meant to obtain a response. I remember when I was a little kid I used to write stories. I did not write stories just for my own sake, I ultimately desired to share them with the world. That being said, I also enjoyed the process of writing the stories. The stories taught me something about myself and my creative abilities. So, while art is primary used to communicate with others, I also believe art is meant to communicate with ourselves. That communication, too, cannot be done in isolation but should be reflected upon in community. Below I quote a section of Tolstoy's thoughts on art.
"Art is a human activity consisting in
this, that one man consciously by means of certain external signs, hands on to
others feelings he has lived through, and that others are infected by these
feelings and also experience them."
For Tolstoy, art does not communicate anything to the artist but instead communicates to the audience. The art also has to be successful in Tolstoy's theory. If the person does not experience the same emotions then the art is seen as a failure. This would wreck a lot of modern sensibilities about the ability for individual interpretation.
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