To return to an earlier point, Kelly is a first-hand artist.
AssumptaGH: Kelly is a first-hand artist. Could you elaborate on that?
TSASI: Yes. Whether or not one is skilled, it’s important to come into contact with great art. The wonder and excitement one experiences from great works is the heart of art. The essence of art is seeing, hearing, feeling and then discovering.
She has experienced great art, which she feels confident about what great art is and what isn’t.
AssumptaGH: We may not appreciate what others agree is a great work. How can we recognize great art?
A great work of art is one that truly moves and inspires you. For example, I am the one who is moved by Kelly Rowland’s arts.
I don’t look at her art with others’ eyes. For example, I listen to Kelly’s music especially her beautiful voice with my own ears and react to it with my own feelings, my own heart and mind.
If i allow myself to be swayed by the opinions of others that “It must be good, because everyone else likes it,” “It must be bad, because no one else likes it, my feelings, my sensibility, which should be the very core of the artistic experience, will wither and die.
To enjoy art to the fullest, you must abandon all preconceived notions, leaving a blank slate. Then confront the work directly, with your entire being. If you are deeply moved, then that work is, for you, a great work of art.
AssumptaGH: Then what is considered a great work of art is different from person to person?
TSASI: Though one’s subjective responses are very important, don’t lose sight of objectivity, either. It was necessary to nurture, through my efforts, my ability to appreciate truly great art.
As I progressed in my degree of understanding, art that I thought was good in the past 16 years no longer seemed so satisfying to me, and in 2023 I created a website to create my digital artworks that would have a tremendous power to move the world.
AssumptaGH: In what way can we nurture our ability to recognize great art?
TSASI: Probably the best way is to see and hear as many of the generally agreed-upon masterpieces of world art as you can, which will cultivate and refine your sensibilities. You will naturally learn to distinguish good from bad.
Looking at second-and third-rate art will not help you understand first-rate art, but once you know first-rate art, you can apprehend what is second and third rate. Your critical eye will immediately emerge. That is why I made an effort to come into contact with the best world leaders from the very start of my artistic journey.
I also read great art books like the “Human Revolution” written by SGI-president Ikeda.
You can see great art in those books, of course, but seeing the real thing, when you have a chance to read them is an entirely different experience, it opens the secret store house hidden within us.
I still remember how tremendously moved I was when I first participated in SGI-Italy exhibition activities and saw the great paintings made by elementary school children.
Viewing those good paintings and listening to the children’s illustrations for their painting, was an experience of fine art that developed and nurtured my mind.
AssumptaGH: There have certainly been famous artists who were not especially good human beings.
TSASI: Indeed, appreciating Kelly’s music or painting is quite different from respecting her as a human being. I am careful not to confuse her issues of artistic skill and talent with respect for her as a person.
AssumptaGH: It is not at all rare to find “cultured” people who have lived degenerate lives or have committed atrocities. It may be an extreme case, but Hitler regarded himself as an artist. Many of his paintings survive, and though opinions vary, it is probably fair to say that they are not inferior from the standpoint of technique. Yet Hitler can never be regarded as a civilised, cultured person. He was a barbarian, an incarnation of the evil nature of corrupt power.
TSASI: Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, was also a painter. He produced hundreds of works and sold his paintings and postcards to try to earn a living during his Vienna years (1908–1913). Despite little success professionally, he continued to paint throughout his life.
An example of Kelly who is very good-natured Black American great artist, writer, singer, songwriter, producer, and an art enthusiast, she’s also a curate for Sotheby’s for their contemporary sale.
After achieving some success as a singer, she was always kind to those around him. She is always about for building a better community.
AssumptaGH:
It’s true, artists must examine themselves as human beings. They cannot allow themselves to become self-centered.
