art is long, life is short
I thought I would re-blog today's Spark. It's a fortune cookie aphorism, rendered in silver—a New Year's gift from Donna Leisen, my studio neighbour and one of the many talents at Aurelia.
- Ars longa,
- vita brevis,
- occasio praeceps,
- experimentum periculosum,
- iudicium difficile. — Hippocrates
- Ὁ βίος βραχύς,
- ἡ δὲ τέχνη μακρή,
- ὁ δὲ καιρὸς ὀξύς,
- ἡ δὲ πεῖρα σφαλερή,
- ἡ δὲ κρίσις χαλεπή.
- It's interesting to read "This is one of those rare phrases in which the meaning is more debated than the origin. What is usually understood...is something along the lines of 'art lasts forever but artists die and are forgotten.'
- ...a misunderstanding based on the translation of the word 'ars' as 'art.' If we accept that the Latin term 'ars' is equivalent to the Greek 'techne' (τέχνη): technique, skill, and that, consequently, 'ars' is better translated into English as 'skill' or 'craft,'...that would lead us to interpret the meaning as 'it takes a long time to acquire and perfect one's expertise and one has but a short time in which to do it.'" and I prefer this idea of craft, preparation, training; the years in the making (of an artist and their work).
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