One of the Great Functions of Art

By: Adrienne Rich

Art means nothing if it simply decorates the dinner table of power which holds it hostage.

—Adrienne Rich

Behind all art is an element of desire.
Love of life, of existence, love of 
another human being, love of 
human beings is in some way 
behind all art — even the 
most angry, even the darkest, 
even the most grief-stricken, 
and even the most embittered art 
has that element somewhere 
behind it. Because how could 
you be so despairing, so embittered, 
if you had not had something 
you loved that you lost?

One of the great functions of art
is to help us imagine
what it is like to be not ourselves,
what it is like
to be someone
or something else,
what it is like to live
in another skin, what it is like
to live in another body,
and in that sense to surpass ourselves,
to go out beyond ourselves.