Aesthetics and Ideology

Something you may have heard before is the phrase: “I don’t care about aesthetics.” This phrase is uttered by those who have deceived themselves. Everyone has an appetite for beauty. There is no depth in denying this fact. Self deception is inherently shallow. Truth is depth. You must dig down within yourself - into the dark, murky depths - to discover the truth. Denying these depths does not make one deep. To deny a truth one has to fabricate a more convenient truth that appeases their ego - most often based on the standards and moralities of the day. Think of this like a tarp with pretty little paintings of butterflies and candy-floss - oh, isn’t that pretty. This tarp is then draped over the inconvenient truth that lurks in the depths of the psyche. The person then turns their eye inward and sees this pretty little tarp that lays atop in the shallows and believes they have reached bottom.

“Aha! The depths! My convenient little tapestry with its pretty little butterflies.”

There is an irony here in which the person appreciates the self-satisfied aesthetic they outwardly project of a faux-depth - all the while deluding themselves into thinking their eyes have no appetite for aesthetics - that they are a noble ascetic of aesthetics.

Art is an outward projection and product of a beauty within. The ideology, philosophy and - most importantly - the spirit will inform the aesthetic beauty of the material creation. An ideology is only as good as its art. An ideologically inspired work’s aesthetic quality will be informed by the spirit of the ideology itself. If the art is not beautiful - the spirit of the ideology is not beautiful.

We are bound by natural laws. If one wishes to fly he cannot simply imagine himself as a bird and take flight. He must work within the laws of nature and manufacture air-craft that obey the laws of nature if he wishes to fly. Idealism born of delusion and wishful thinking without thought will get you nowhere but a fantasy land amusement park to escape to within the shallows of the mind. The appreciation and importance of beauty is one of these laws.

Which of these two paintings is more beautiful? Does one - not only demand your attention - but keep it? Is a hospital floor more beautiful before - or after - it is cleaned?

”For so long as the root of wickedness is hidden, it is strong. But when it is recognized, it is dissolved. When it is revealed, it perishes.

Ignorance is the mother of all evil. Ignorance will result in death, because those who come from ignorance neither were nor are nor shall be

For truth is like ignorance: while it is hidden, it rests in itself, but when it is revealed and is recognized, it is praised, inasmuch as it is stronger than ignorance and error. It gives freedom. The Word said, "If you know the truth, the truth will make you free"

-The Gospel of Philip