Will Bassing - Heiddegar and art

I recently read the Heideggar chapter in the Nature of Art textbook, and I found his view on art very interesting.  Heiddegar believes that through art we can find Being, and Truth.  There is an excellent metaphor he gives relating our lives to a forest.  He says that art can be viewed through a “clearing,” or an “opening.”  This comes from the metaphor.  If we think of our lives as a forest; dark, dense and hectic, it is easy to realize that our lives are very chaotic.  We often times get lost in the hustle of the daily routine, and before we realize it, another week is gone.  Heiddegar states that art creates a clearing in the forest.  This clearing stops us, and commands our attention.  For example, we use pens and pencils in everyday life, we often take for granted the fact that we don’t need quills or ink, or a chisel.  If someone were to paint a small container holding several pens and pencils, some chewed, some broken, some worn, some new; suddenly we stop and think about these pens and pencils.  Who uses them? What did they just finish doing? What are they about to do?  These utensils that we don’t even think about on a daily basis, we now just had a deeper contemplation for.  This is the claim that Heiddegar makes when he explains how art can provide a gateway through which we can find Truth and Being.