Beauty and ugliness flow naturally into the world from the content or emptiness of the soul.—Fr. Anthony J. Brankin
Once upon a time, beauty was recognized as an acting power, like truth and goodness. It was considered to have definite existence and objective quality. The aim of artists was to express this beauty and thus connect humanity with the divine nature of God.
Today, the function of so-called ‘art’ is to disturb and alienate its viewers by willfully desecrating their world and the human experiences of worship, love and death. Our artists celebrate randomness, sterility and brutality. But even as it seeks to be more and more outrageous, modern art has become nothing more than a banal joke.
In a documentary produced for television, British philosopher, artist and composer Roger Scruton seeks to explain Why Beauty Matters. The cult of ugliness extends into our surroundings, our language, our music and our manners. In this age of noise and distraction, can beauty still speak to our spirits?
Scruton argues that beauty is not subjective, but a universal human need, and the key to our spiritual nature. Beauty in art is a response to the chaos and suffering we see in the world; it is a consolation in sorrow and an affirmation in joy. ‘Beauty,’ Scruton says, ‘is an essential resource that shapes the world as home.’
It is telling, Scruton believes, that art has followed the way of religion. He lightly traces the human attitude towards beauty and spirituality from Plato, through the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Scientific Revolution, and Postmodernism—drawing his main contrast between Michelangelo’s David and Duchamp’s Fountain.
The cult of ugliness in art, and the cult of utility in everyday life, unite to create what Scruton considers the greatest crime against beauty—modern architecture.
Twentieth-century architects became ‘impatient with beauty’ and instead followed the dictum ‘Form follows function.’ The result was not beautiful and neither was it functional.
Scruton takes us to his hometown to show how modern architecture transformed a human community into an urban wasteland. Referring to an abandoned office building, Scruton remarks, ‘No one wants to be in it because it’s so damned ugly.’ The graffiti, he says, has only completed the work of the original vandals—the architects.
He echoes C.S. Lewis’s principle of ‘First and Second Things.’ Put utility first, Scruton says, and you will lose utility. Put beauty first, and you will have utility also.
This culture wallowing in self-disgust claims it is merely being honest about modern reality. But Scruton argues that they ‘do not show reality, but take revenge on it, spoiling what might have been our home and leaving us alienated in a spiritual desert’ {illustrated throughout the documentary by public cellphone use}.
Perhaps one of the best moments of the documentary is when a sculptor interviewed by Scruton identifies the ugliness of modern art as an act of destruction. Modern artists want to ‘obliterate knowledge,’ he tells Scruton, who adds morality to the casualties.
Scruton closes by echoing his opening thought, that beauty is a virtue {literally, an acting power}. ‘Beauty confronts the things that trouble us’ and overcomes them. As Chesterton expressed it, ‘There is something in the universe more mystical than darkness, and stronger than strong fear.’
Although the documentary is only an hour long, one gets the impression that Scruton and the film editors were stretching their material. Scruton repeats basic ideas two or three times; we see the same artwork and urban scenes; and I got a little tired of viewing Scruton’s grim and thoughtful visage. It is unfortunate, because this little documentary could have achieved much greater depth by better planning.
Although references to God and spirituality are central to Scruton’s arguments, his own religious beliefs remain ambiguous and his arguments ultimately nebulous. Religion and beauty, Scruton says, are two doors opening on the same space; but beauty, as C.S. Lewis pointed out, is only ‘a good image of what we really desire’—God Himself.
Please note that this program is designed for adult viewing and includes disturbing images that represent the modern concept of art {a bloody doll, crass nudity as well as artistic nudity, shocking irreverence, et cetera}.
• Roger Scruton •
July 16, 2013
WHY BEAUTY MATTERS