Rafael Hanuman

Before any genius thinks they have revealed the secret of the artist...

The technical aspect doesn’t matter. So why did it shock me so much?



Because that person—he is... or more accurately, he is... or best put, he is an artist.

So what does that mean?

It means that if I were with that person and I picked up a pencil...

He would understand that I am an artist, just as I would immediately understand that he is an artist.

If we crossed time and space and walked side by side, I could communicate with him.

Without any barriers or tools, ordinary people cannot communicate with ordinary prehistoric people.

Oh! Can anyone who draws communicate with these prehistoric artists? No... only artists can.

No. Those people cannot. They are not artists. That is, most people. No communication.

How can you distinguish between prehistoric people and artists without using contemporary complex ideas?

It’s simple: tell someone who has practiced music since childhood, "Give yourself time to play."

The prehistoric person has no concept. He wouldn’t feel insulted.

Tell him to play solo on the guitar or another instrument, like Milton Nascimento’s music.

If it doesn’t sound like the Calypso band, there’s no reason to be embarrassed.

Artists can tell who another artist is from many clues. The first clue is — his respect for art.

What’s important to understand is that art is something special. Not everyone can do it. Those who don’t understand it, don’t understand art at all.

If someone thinks they can learn art, it’s because someone has pressured them with speeches, talking about sweat and effort.

This is rhetoric, so others are not called lower life forms.

This is hard to say. It can create resentment. But it’s the truth.

1% inspiration and 99% perspiration — that’s diplomacy.

Now I’ll tell a story:

I lived next to a waterfall in Minos Cheres for six months.

There, I made a bamboo flute and developed a pitch system.

When I tuned the flute and started playing, the birds began to sing along.

Just like some dogs sing along with music.

Two points: 1) For animals, the two forms of art are singing and dancing.

2) Some animals know that what’s happening is art.

No complex thoughts, no writing, no social concepts,

perhaps no family concept, even no understanding of development.

Prehistoric artists knew: I am an artist. But that’s all. Others are not.

Just like some birds, even if they are not the same species, or some dogs, who understand music being played.

They don’t understand what’s happening in our minds, but they know there is an intelligent being in front of them.

One who is doing something different from instinct.

Animals sing because they know it’s music.

This is not a painful scream, nor an expression of anger.

This is something an intelligent being does for fun.

They don’t sing only for others, they also sing for themselves.

They know they are making art, and they participate in it.

They know there’s an intelligent being in front of them, doing something conscious.

They know they are intelligent beings too, and they can create something.

I salute the artists of the animal world.

Why don’t most dogs sing or play instruments?

Because they don’t understand that what is happening is art.

This is why we know that art is something special.

It is something only found in special creatures.

I try to explain this in different ways to different people.

But no one accepts the fact that only some people do art.

Because most people don’t understand when something is art.

To most people, Pollock’s works may be surpassed by a five-year-old.

The important thing is that these things successfully convey a message.

Indian culture says there are three types of people.

Machiavelli also said the same thing, just in different words.

Artists are the top people.

Human development is the creative work of some special people.

It is the creative work of special beings called artists.

However, artists don’t directly develop themselves.

Artists transcend time; they see the past, present, and future.