Why Does Art Created from Separation Evoke Unity?

When Beethoven wrote his late quartets from agony over being profoundly deaf, or Messiaen composed in a prisoner of war camp, they were writing from profound separation. Yet art expressing friction and agony often evokes unity in listeners. Why do you think that is? Do artists know about unity before creating, or do they discover it through their work? Rupert says: ‘In order to write about your sorrow or your agony, you have to stand apart from it and view it. Otherwise, you couldn’t describe it. So, the artist separates themself from their experience and describes it. The artist places the viewer or the listener in the place where they stood when they were describing it or composing it or painting it. It’s not what the artist paints that is important. It’s where they paint from, the point of view they take.’

From event 07 - 14 September, 2025 Seven-Day Retreat at Mandali, 7–14 September 2025 – ‘Meister Eckhart and the Love of God’

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