a view on art from the past.

An estonian author called Eduard Vilde, who lived from 1865 to 1933, wrote a book in 1912 called The Uncatchable Miracle ("Tabamata Ime"). Though it may seem like a long time ago, reading that book today (if you can get it in your hands in English) may surprise you: how modern, how up-to-date, how universal. Maybe others won´t see it, but you will - as an artist. Cause this book tells us about an artist still seeking for a breakthrough, but sadly doing many wrong things in its name. It also raises many philosophical questions about the field of arts in general and a creators position in a society.

Leo Saalep, a piano player, returns home from the Grand Europe - home, thats a frog pond, a tiny country with limited chances to stand out or become a big star. In someone else´s case it may be a small town inside a big region inside a huge country, a clique community inside a metropolis, anything, which sets borders to a growing artist. Leo brings with him the echo of praise and ovations from the European audience - he is an instant object of admiration - and big, big, BIG expectations towards his upcoming concert in the home land. Everybody is expecting him to be The One, that big name to bring the tiny, unimportant (and at 1912 not yet independent) country on the map of the world. No, they want more - they need, they want to call him an artistic genius.
Do you remember how the lights seemed to black out, when you had to read a poem on a school concert in front of all the two dozen relatives expecting you to turn into a child star with the power of their minds? Would you die of fear if you had to show your portfolio in front of examination committee of a really high-class art school?
Although I think burtonite nerves are from a different class and not much to worry about when it comes to talent you can at least imagine that situation. Thats how Leo was feeling, and he made several attempts to cancel the concert. He was just not sure he could raise to the occasion, but he pressed these feelings down, he had a desperate desire to be what the others wanted him to be. "Believe in me! Lend me your strength!", he said. Maybe thats the only obstacle that does not allow Leo to doubt himself and thus become truly a great artist who can rely only on his own self.

For Leo Saalep, things are made worse by an especially eager "communicator", his free-marriage spouse Lilli, who has promoted his talents maybe more than would have been reasonable. How often is that the case really in the field of arts, that the communicators - agents, curators, managers or just the cultural establishment you work for, a film company, a theater, a dance group - are doing a bit TOO much for the artist or actor or musicians, which prevents those to be themselves and build a relationship of trust, understanding and FAIR expectations with the audience? They will be like products of the communicator, not individuals... But.... those nasty people are there for a reason, you know. They have a different position in the society than a singular artist, they are institutions, that don´t just present singular talents, but form a school of thought, a way to look at things and have a great influence to public opinion, which very rare artists can have all by themselves.

Leo Saalep was very much absorbed by a low self image, and if not for Lilli, who was constantly pushing him, reassuring him, he would not have worked at all. But being concerned about "making it", receiving praise, Leo forgot about inner development as an artist, listening to his inner voice and self criticism, and his music lacked the meaning, the message - that one thing thats YOURS and that no communicator or critic can alter or take away. Leos ex-lover Eve did not hear that miracle, that spark in his performance, but she had once been an aspiring poet who stopped writing cause she felt her poetry wasn´t good enough. It does raise a question of her objectivity - could she have been envious? Lilli perhaps felt the same from the very beginning, but was too ambitious to admit it, she, for one, tried to fulfill her own artistic ambitions and dreams through somebody else, plus she hoped to marry Leo and become a "famous pianists´wife". Only a personal conflict sparked her to speak out. Lilli revealed Leo had done many things just as a publicity trick, he had forged magazine articles and hid the sources of the assumed praise he got in foreign capitals.

Vilde doesn´t really judge or put down any of his characters. Who IS right, really? Which one of them failed in their task? Did Lilli´s outburst contain any truth, or was she just getting even with estranged housband? Can anyone actually confirm Leo DOESN´ T have any talent? Did he just do what any artist would do to succeed? The communicator, a voice of a muse, had spoken, she had come down on him with fury and a note of disappointment, and the people believed her rather than the artist, because the artist had not really stood up for himself ever before. They already knew he was a weak, paranoid person, but that doesn´t mean he was a hopeless musician, does it?
Or did Leo really just heartlessly use his faithful muse to be somebody, to become a star having himself only a mediocre talent and no distinctively original qualities? Who IS the manipulator, who exactly is messing with the audiences´ minds? The artist, or the communicator? Or is it that the particular audience really was that stupid and they deserved to be fooled and fed with "non-art", cause they wont be able to tell the difference? (which is what I personally find most likely in this story, cause Vilde wrote the play partly to mock and poor out his disappointment at the critics and media of that time, who were absorbed in self- admiration and their own fine words more than searching for the true meanings in art ).
The concert itself is not described in the book, other than through the words of the Mass, the Crowd and some over-the-top cultural wannabes, and we can not tell if they know the criteria for a good or bad performance or just bluff their way through the conversation. Even in stage plays based on this text you would not find out anything more. And that is why people still interpret the story just as hopelessly, shooting blanks at different theories almost a hundred years later.
There is a DVD with 6 short flicks, named "The Untouchable Miracle" ("Tabamata Ime") that should be available in cinemas that are part of the European Cinematic Network . The pack of films is done on extremely low budget by young directors and using the same actors in all films, but playing different roles (which actually benefits the idea very much). In one of them Leo is turned into a shock artist sawing off his arm on an art performance, depicting the irrational assumption art has to cross limits while no one knows where the damn those limits are.
But what else is left to do, if the media is no longer interested in true artist, but fashion-designing singers and singing models and painting bank managers etc etc.? Or is it that drastic really... who will help us decide?
The truth is out there, I am sure. The best thing to do NOW is what you do best. Lets hope thats ALL it takes.

Sincerely,
from Redfox.