Bagyi Aung Soe, “A Letter on Discussions About Art to Dear Brother: Reflections by Myay Chit Thu (Writer/Poet)”, in From Tradition to Modernity, Yangon: Khin May Si Sapay, 1978, 18-27.1
18 Remember, elder brother, the night with the sweet smell of rain when we sat under the dark sky? We discussed the interaction and integration of the two truths: 19 that of “Nature” [English] and that of art. In the earlier days of the impressionist movement, there was some confusion. Some even thought that rules of “Optic” [English] must be present. It was only later that people came to accept that nature in its natural state exists, and there was hence no confusion about it, but only in art. Much later, both nature and art were taken into equal account. You told us that the dependency on light for the impressionists … 20 … and the dependency on the “Sculptural” [English] for others were totally disregarded for the first time in “Cubism” [English]. Cubism transformed the three-dimensional into the beauty of the two-dimensional without paying much attention to the rules of optic and “Light” [English] that were the impressionist’s preoccupation. Still, cubism perfected the sculptural aspect. What is more important is that the cubists saw matter in layers and “Skin” [English] which cannot be seen with our eyes and placed them flattened on the painted surface. In this way, art gained profundity. Concerning the “Tactile” [English], it subsumed the influence of sculptures of almost five hundred years. 21 In short, cubism leaves behind the ill-defined imaginary figures which elude our “Retina” [English]. Our discussion continued in an atmosphere of freedom under the rain that night. In fact, we could not even hear the sound of the falling rain.
1
This translation only conveys the gist of the article, not all the nuances. Bagyi Aung Soe, “A Letter on Discussions About Art to Dear Brother: Reflections by Myay Chit Thu (Writer/Poet)”, in From Tradition to Modernity, Yangon: Khin May Si Sapay, 1978, 18-27.
1
AungSoeillustrations.org