First of all, the question over what is or is not a work of art has been debated endlessly over the centuries. Because no human being is just like any other (although we are all created equal), every person has a highly subjective idea of what is or is not art, whether it is a work of literature, a sculpture, a painting, a poem or a song. What is one man’s work of art is another man’s garbage. Indeed, it is not necessary for an individual to even understand a work of art to find it aesthetically pleasing to the eye or ear. In the 1950’s, the song “La Bamba” was a huge hit in the United States although most people didn’t understand a word of the song – it was entirely in Spanish. There are numerous examples of songs in foreign languages that have been worldwide hits, even in countries that could not understand a word of what was being sung. Particularly with a musical composition, it is not so much the understanding of the lyrics that is important but rather the beat of the music.

Similarly, paintings and sculptures are always open to a wide variety of interpretations. No one person can know exactly what was in the mind of the creator, even if that artisan is still alive to try to explain what it was that he or she was trying to create. Paintings and sculptures that appear at first glance to be relatively straightforward in meaning can have hidden nuances and subtexts that are understood by practically no one but the most well trained art experts. Simply because the majority of the population does not understand it does not mean that the work of art has no merit.

Finally, one needs to only consider the fact that not all art is intended to be understood and enjoyed by the masses to observe that a simple majority does not determine the true value or merit of a work of art. Artists often create a particular piece based purely on their own personal desire for self-expression, sometimes to the point of expressing disdain for what the vox populi states that it likes or wants. In a similar vein, who would like to be the one that tells a class of kindergarteners that their just-completed finger paintings are not works of art because no one understands them? Who has the right to tell a blind artist that what he or she has painted has no value because no one can understand it?

In summary, the merit that is found in art does not come from a vote of the majority of the population on whether they understand it or not. Art can have significance even if the only value that is realized is that of the self-expression of its creator. Particularly with a field as subjective as art, the relative merit of the subject lies not with the majority but within each individual that bears witness to its presence.

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参考译文

为了使一件艺术品——无论是电影还是文学，雕塑或者歌曲——具有某种价值，它必须要使大多数人理解它

　　一个人代表世界上所有其他人来断定哪些艺术作品——无论是视觉艺术品还是听觉艺术品——具有价值，这是不可能的。没有任何人有权力决定某项艺术成就的价值，多数人也没有权力武断什么艺术对于少数人是有价值的。从许多方面讲，任何艺术作品的价值都存在于欢赏者的眼光，不管这观赏者是艺术家本人还是全世界民众。

　　首先，什么是艺术品什么不是艺术品这一问题已经被无休无止地争论了数百年。因为没有任何人与其他另一个人完全相同（尽管我们都生来平等），故每个人对于什么是艺术品，什么不是艺术品的看法都是非常主观的，无论它是文学作品，还是雕塑作品，绘画作品，一首诗或者一支歌。一个人的艺术作品很可能是另一个人的垃圾。的确，没有必要一个人必须理解一件艺术品以便发现它审美地悦目或悦耳。20世纪50年代，歌曲“LA　BAMBA”在美国引起极大轰动，尽管大多数人并不明白歌曲的一个词，因为它是用西班牙语写成的。有许多外语歌曲都是全世界流行，甚至在某些国家，所唱的一个词也听不懂。尤其是音乐作品，重要的不是听懂它的歌词而是聆听音乐的节奏。

　　同样，对绘画作品和雕塑作品也可以进行多种多样的解释。没有任何人确切地知道作者创作之际脑海里在想些什么，即便是那位艺术家仍然活着，试图去说明他、她当时努力要创造的是什么。有些绘画作品和雕塑作品乍一看似乎意义相对直截了当，但它们所隐藏的含义和潜台词只有受过良好训练的艺术家才能理解。只是因为大多数人不理解并不意味着一件艺术品就没有价值。

　　最后，我们只需要考虑一下这样一个事实：并非所有的艺术都是需要民众理解和欣赏的，这说明简单的多数并不能决定一件艺术品的真正价值。艺术家常常根据他们纯粹的自我表现的愿望创作一件特定的作品，有时是在表达对民众喜爱之物的鄙视。同样，谁能告诉幼儿园的孩童们，他们刚刚完成的手指画不是艺术品，因为没有人理解它们？谁有权力告诉一位盲人艺术家说他/她所画的作品没有价值，原因是没有人理解它？

　　总而言之，艺术品中所被发现的价值不是来自人口中的大多数人对是否理解这一艺术进行的投票表决。即使艺术品中得到实现的唯一价值是创作者的自我表现这一价值，该艺术品仍然是有意义的。尤其是艺术这一非常主观的领域，其价值不在于大多数民众的看法，而在于每一个人对所存在价值的认识。