Aug 27, 2025
Arts as such, as natural phenomena, do not exist—what does exist is a need for art inherent in man. This need is satisfied in various ways—in different ages, different peoples, different cultures. The separate elements of nature which play a role in the construction of human life are isolated, and when exposed to a particular culture they become the basis of this or that art. As material for art these elements must possess certain qualities or "capacities", and exist within certain particular relationships to life. These relationships change—the actual forms of art change as well as the actual arrangement of these forms.
Boris Eikhenbaum, The Poetics of Cinema
