Carrying Crosses

Perhaps 300 years seems like a very long time. Certainly for objects that survive the vagaries of human migrations and neglect or pure obsolescence (as if such a thing is ever pure). Objects no longer of use become works of art, or so Heidegger claims. Is uselessness at the very center of art and its purpose? Perhaps use as a term needs an expanded definition. Use need not be instrumentalizing. An object for contemplation has this use: that of contemplation. Contemplation is useful. Simone Weil wrote that "without room for reflection between the impulse and the act, neither is there room for justice." Her essay on Force still demands our attention. (November 10, 2017)