An artist's reality

….‘Reality is a perpetual process of evolution, propelled by the fertile impact of perpetual antagonisms which are resolved each time into a superior synthesis which, itself, creates its opposite and again causes history to advance.’…

– Page 165, The Rebel by Albert Camus, 1969[break]

I’ve read this book three times already, and I still feel that there’s more I can learn from it. And yes, I’ll be reading it again. I feel that this book has given me direction and guidance in my life.

In my opinion, the quote reflects the validity of the logic regardless of the time one lives in. And it also reveals the level of the intellect of the iconic writer Albert Camus had in analyzing the time, the human mind, and the society.

Camus in this book has established that “The Rebel” not as a political rebel but he refers to the rebel against the state of mind. He says that nothing is permanent, including reality. Reality in one phase is attained only to give rise to the newer forms of conflicts and dissatisfaction. A new reality is then established, only to be surpassed by a superior one in yet another phase or time.

The rebels pushing for any political evolution, as Camus sees, are more static, as they want to impose a certain stream of thought. The process of evolution should be ongoing, and to impose a certain thought to the people would be destroying the fertility of new thoughts, and hence reality.

This book always makes me look forward to and venture into the other side. Though it was written decades ago, the contextual resemblance to the present society is extraordinary.

About Madan Chitrakar

Coming from the lineage of art workers of the core of Kathmandu and with a book and dozens of solo exhibitions to his credits, Madan Chitrakar believes that his college days at Bombay studying Applied Art are behind his passion for reading and writing.

He states that he reads either to empower or to entertain. The art books he reads are for his empowerment as an artist and as an art writer. And for his entertainment and also to broaden his psyche, he engulfs in books from fiction to current affairs to contemporary history.

“While studying in Bombay, I came across Sir Herbert Read’s The Meaning of Art and then I understood that one must read art to create art,” recalls Chitrakar, adding, “and when I came back to Kathmandu,

I published my first article, ‘The cult of Sun God in Nepali art’ in The Rising Nepal in 1976 which was a good push for me to continue writing about art.”

As he is preparing for another book, he still believes that there is much to be written about the Nepali art, the traditional and religious, and modern, representational and experimental.

Chitrakar’s Five Picks

The Rebel

Albert Camus

The book is the science of logic, and analyzes the human mind and society. It’s the book I treasure.

Art Today

Edward Lucei-Smith

This book is my latest reading. It has proved to be a very helpful and important book to further empower me about the art and its meanings. This book encapsulates the post-modernist idea.

The Meaning of Art

Sir Herbert Read

I first read this book when I was a student in Bombay, and since then, it’s been engrained in my mind. This book has become a part of my social and cultural outlook. I wouldn’t have come this far in understanding art, had I not had come across this book.

Art of Tibet

Robert E. Fisher

This book breaks the normal perception of the Tibetan art being complex. It gives a grid to religion-based art and proves that complex art forms can also be simplified. Though it’s a book about art, it can also captivate a common reader. I read this book some years back but it still remains afresh in my mind.

A Collection of Short Stories

Lu Shun

The short stories that Lu Shun has written tell us about the importance of human behavior and their perceptions. Even the stories of BP Koirala have been inspired by his writings. It’s been ages I’ve read this book but the stories and the characters still keep coming back to me.

As told to Asmita Manandhar