March 29, 1948
Report by Sheldon Kranz
Note: Sheldon Kranz wrote informal reports of some of the earliest classes Kranz attended with Mr. Siegel. Teaching for four decades (1941-1978) in New York City, Eli Siegel gave thousands of thrilling lectures and classes on the arts and sciences—scholarly and groundbreaking. Based on the principles he taught, the Aesthetic Realism Foundation provides classes via Zoom.
In this class Mr. Siegel discussed play, and showed how it is related to work. He showed how Aesthetic Realism sees play as not opposed to work, and how both must be seen fully and accurately.
Play Has a Purpose
Mr. Siegel said that the purpose of play is to find an absence of seriousness in the world, and yet find the world worthy of respect. We can see this in a child playing, having fun, but he is also serious about his game. We can see it in a kitten playing with a piece of twine. Too often, Mr. Siegel said, people have felt that play is superfluous, superficial; they haven’t seen it having the same purpose as work. Seeing the lightsome or ridiculous does not mean we are not seeing the truth; we are seeing the world not as an obstruction or an obstacle.
Play and Art
Hobbies, Mr. Siegel showed, are a form of play, but they are put in another territory from one’s work and are mostly misused. Art has been seen as a hobby, as was shown in a newspaper article in the Tribune which Mr. Siegel discussed, where businessmen and professional people have more and more gone to art “to relax.” Art should not be seen as a hobby any more than drinking a glass of water or sleeping is, said Mr. Siegel. He continued: “If art were wholly understood, it would be seen as a necessity, as a deep means of expression. The purpose of art,” he said, “is to give ourselves an outward form. But unless we like the world and are impressed with it, we won’t express ourselves. If we are not impressed, we will have nothing to express.” Art should not be a substitute for life, as many have seen it, but as a completion of it. This needs knowledge, or it will not be complete.
Opposites in Play
If we look at play we will see that opposites are put together. Mothers need to understand there is seriousness as well as non-seriousness in a child’s playing. There is heaviness and lightness. In painting, a person can feel very intense, and yet be enjoying himself immensely. Wherever there is activity or motion, there is play, but it can have strictness, too, as in chess—there is freedom and there is also accuracy.
A Scene from Dickens’ Pickwick Papers
To show how play can be furious and mirthful, and yet serious and concentrated, Mr. Siegel read the ice-sliding sequence from Dickens’ Pickwick Papers. In this scene, Mr. Pickwick, Sam Weller and others slide along the ice again and again, having a fine time while others are ice skating. The sliding is delightful and smooth, but Sam Weller’s special game called “knocking on the cobbler’s door” shows defiance. The ice skating seems to be the most important thing in the world at that moment. There is seriousness in the play. “The whole book makes mirth deep, as it should be,” said Mr. Siegel.
Depth in Children’s Games
There is a deep desire for the world to make sense to us, to see it as orderly. This can be seen in the games children play. Mr. Siegel read several games and songs showing how they are deep, as children are, and are about the most important things a person can deal with: the relation of himself or herself as one to the world seen as many. In “Green Gravel,” the individual and collective are seen; the name is putting together smoothness and roughness. “The Mulberry Bush” is lightsome fun, but it is all about work. The two have been put together gracefully. “The Farmer in the Dell,” shows the same thing. A hard-working farmer is placed in a romantic place—a dell.
“One problem we all have,” said Mr. Siegel, “is that to feel good, we must feel we are not lessening the joy of others in enjoying things ourselves.”
There’s something in people that doesn’t want to see play deeply. There are people who stop others from playing, because they do not understand it. “Reality,” Mr. Siegel said, “did not make the frisking lamb for nothing. There is the solid oak and the swaying grass. Both should be seen as real.”
Opposition and Release
The self wants opposition and release, heaviness and lightness. Where opposition is preponderant, it seems to be work; where release is preponderant, it is play. If we see the opposites of the world as making sense, as for us, we can then have a deep sense of play. The greatest humor is the most serious humor.
“Casey at the Bat”
Mr. Siegel ended with a reading of “Casey at the Bat,” where freedom and discipline can be seen, tragedy and lightsomeness. In the tragedy of the baseball hero who struck out, there is humor and play. And he said, “Only when we can put these together will we be at ease in ourselves.”