Two works may follow the same traditional methods, yet one is dismissed as an outdated, tedious relic, while the other is revered as a masterpiece of timeless craftsmanship. The line dividing them is not whether they “followed the form,” but rather the direction of the artist’s attitude toward that form.
Tediousness: The Repetition of a Soulless Shell
The moment a classic becomes tedious is when it serves as a “safe refuge.” When an artist lacks the courage to attempt something new or merely copies the answers left by ancestors without deep reflection, the classic loses its vitality.
In this state, the norm becomes a prison that confines the artist. The moment one becomes buried in the custom of “that’s the way it’s always been done”—without agonizing over why a line must be drawn this way or why a specific harmony must be used—the classic becomes stuffed and preserved like a museum specimen. People sense a lack of not only novelty but also “truth.” It is no longer art; it is no more than the repetitive noise of a machine that has ceased to function.
Craftsmanship: The Strength to Endure the Extremes of Norms
Conversely, the moment a classic is sublimated into craftsmanship is when the artist accepts the norm not as a “shortcut,” but as the “most arduous path of asceticism.”
A true craftsman willingly embraces the constraints provided by the norm. To the casual observer, it may seem like the same bowl or the same performance, but within that narrow framework, the craftsman fights against an invisible 0.1mm margin of error to reach perfection. The energy exerted here is as intense as any destructive innovation.
People feel a sense of awe at this fierce precision. When we see that the goal is not merely to “keep the rules,” but rather the will to pierce through the extreme environment of the norm to touch the “essence,” we call it craftsmanship.
The Classics Must Be Reborn Every Moment
Ultimately, the “classic” is not a fixed state; it is a process that must be proven anew every time.
When a performer reproduces Beethoven’s score exactly as written while infusing it with their own soul, Beethoven ceases to be a tedious relic and becomes a contemporary colleague. A norm can be a rope that binds an artist, or it can be a ladder that allows them to climb higher.
The reason we can read craftsmanship into the classics is that we discover within those norms a struggle—not of a “dead past,” but of a “living present.” The classic is not something standing still; it is another name for the summit that can only be reached by those who move with the most fierce determination.
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