To Cast A Light as a Pianist

This is the English translation of my Japanese article to appear in Nikkan San on Nov. 6th, 2022, as a part of my bi-weekly column, “The Way of the Pianist. 

Imagine yourself in a small, dark room.

You feel the presence of several others in the same room, and a large object in the middle. You reach out, carefully, and touch it, to figure out what it is. “It is thick, heavy and cylindrical. It’s a column.” But another voice, from elsewhere in the room says “No, it’s large, thin and flat. And it moves! It’s a fan.” Almost at the same time, another voice goes “No, no! It’s long with an opening at the end. It’s a hose.” Everyone starts arguing, not realizing that they are all right – that each of them is describing different parts of an elephant. It’s an allegory found in many religions and cultures all over the world, even from some of our most ancient civilizations.

I find myself wondering.

Perhaps the role of arts is to shed light onto these small, dark rooms. The light may be dim. It may only last for a split second. It may shine from strange angles creating shadows that obscure the objects. But it can trigger our imagination, renew our perspectives, making us feel feelings we would not have known otherwise.

Artistic creation is a biproduct of craft and imagination. To hone the craft, artists devote incredible amount of time and effort. And to nurture their imagination, they challenge conventions and reasons. As a result, what they gain is intuition and freedom from the society, and the willingness to sacrifice themselves for causes greater than themselves. Even then, if the role of the arts is to shed light onto the elephants in the small and dark rooms, what matters at the end, ultimately, is the timing, and the faith that despite the darkness of these rooms, there will be people with open eyes, waiting to see.