Life as an Artwork

Friedrich Nietzsche declared in The Birth of Tragedy that art is “the supreme task and the truly metaphysical activity of life.” According to Nietzsche, art goes beyond the creation of individual works. It must be applied to life itself. Life should be viewed as an artwork, as “it is only as an aesthetic phenomenon that existence and the world are eternally justified.”^[1] Therefore, Nietzsche believed that life should be seen as an artwork that one should strive to make beautiful. This idea has its origins in antiquity, with the Stoics and Neoplatonists believing that self-cultivation was akin to carving a beautiful statue out of marble. ^[2] Throughout your life you should strive to make yourself as aesthetically pleasing as possible, and in this way, you will be able to become your true self.

Life is Art

According to Nietzsche, defining art is a grand task. However, certain characteristics can be identified. First, art always has a specific goal, and according to Nietzsche, art for art’s sake is not genuine art. ^[3] Instead, art aims to praise and glorify something, whether it is good or bad. This seems strange in modern times since contemporary art often addresses political issues, such as inequality and prejudice. However, it is not intended to praise or glorify these negative aspects of the world, and Nietzsche’s interpretation of such art should be reconsidered. Rather, it can glorify and praise what it opposes. Art is a demonstration of strength and weakness, a revelation of the horrors of the world to inspire a sense of justice and the possibility of alternatives.

Second, art affirms life by showing its beauty and acknowledging its suffering. It represents the world in all its complexity, demonstrating why life is worth living. Nietzsche believed that art should also affirm the suffering of life, as it is an inherent part of it. Rejecting suffering means rejecting life because suffering is a constituent of life. Life would not exist without suffering.

The concept of why life is suffering will be discussed another time. Life as an artwork requires a process to achieve beauty.  Artists do not create masterpieces in mere seconds. Achieving a grandiose piece takes years of cultivation. A fictive story about Picasso illustrates this point well. One day, while sitting on a park bench, a woman asked Picasso to draw her for a price. He agreed, and within minutes, Picasso had created a stunning portrait. When the woman asked for the price, Picasso replied with a figure of one thousand dollars. The woman was taken aback, as it had only taken him ten minutes to draw. Picasso responded, ‘No, it took me my whole life.’

This story highlights the effort required in art and life. Creating a beautiful life requires discipline and dedication, just like creating a work of art. The goal of viewing our lives as art is to give ourselves a unique style.^[4] By doing so, we present a particular way of being in the world. The philosopher must become an exemplary figure to inspire others:

I attach importance to a philosopher only to the extent that he can set an example. … The philosopher must supply this example in his visible life, and not merely in his books; that is, it must be presented in the way the philosophers of Greece taught, through facial expressions, demeanor, clothing, food, and custom more than through what they said, let alone what they wrote.

Untimely Meditations: Schopenhauer as Educator, F. Nietzsche.

By becoming who you are, you can inspire others to follow in your footsteps. As Nietzsche suggests, developing a personal style takes effort and practice.^[6] This idea echoes the ancient saying: “Know thyself”. By understanding ourselves, we can become our true selves. This introspective exercise is fundamental to becoming our true selves.

Loving Life

Only through affirmation can we love ourselves and find inner peace.^[7] Affirmation is the exercise of beautifying our lives. Objects themselves are neither beautiful nor hideous; it is our perception and attribution of characteristics that give them meaning. Our attitude towards life determines whether it is beautiful or horrendous. The attitude can be life-negating or life-affirming. Both attitudes require further evaluation. The life-negating attitude wants some aspect of life to be different. In contrast, the life-affirming attitude embraces the entirety of one’s life. The concept of amor fati embodies this idea:

“My formula for human greatness is amor fati: that you do not want anything to be different, not forwards, not backwards, not for all eternity. Not just to tolerate necessity, still less to conceal it, but to love it…”

Ecce Homo, Why I Am So Clever, 10; F. Nietzsche.

Nietzsche’s proposed self-evaluation is never complete.  Life only ends with death, so as long as we live, we must continually re-evaluate and strive for improvement. We are never truly ‘finished’. Imagine your life goal is to sip mimosas on the beach while watching the sunset. You have worked your whole life to achieve this dream. Now, at sixty, you have finally made it. As you enjoy the view and your drink, you realize that the next day has arrived, and then the next. Eventually, you will tire of the mimosas and the sunset will lose its beauty. You no longer have a goal and thus your actions lose their meaning. It is important to have a goal to work towards as long as you are alive. Turning your life into a work of art can provide such a goal. Nietzsche’s task is the learning of the love of life in all its aspects.

The Stoics were of the opinion that life is like a piece of marble, and with diligence, one can uncover one’s true self. The statue is already present within the marble, and you only need to reveal it.  Nietzsche, on the other hand, believed that you do not find yourself, but rather create yourself. Using the word ‘becoming’ to describe our true selves can be ambiguous. The Stoics believe that we can achieve personal growth by examining ourselves and discovering previously unknown aspects of our being. By delving deep, we can uncover the marble statue of ourselves and achieve greatness. Nietzsche argues that this ‘becoming’ is a creative endeavour, where we build upon ourselves and become more of who we truly are. Every experience and action contributes to our personal growth. To love life fully, we must accept and embrace all of our past experiences and actions.

Viewing life as an artwork can inspire people to strive towards making the world a more beautiful place. By putting in hard work and effort, one can become a beautiful person both physically and emotionally.  It is important to note that this should not be dictated by societal conventions. Nietzsche refers to the ‘herd’ as inauthentic influences that attempt to make individuals conform to the average person. This conformity prevents the individual from being himself or herself and from living an artful life instead of one of kitsch. Creating beauty in one’s life is a personal struggle, but also a great achievement that cannot be accomplished by anyone else.

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^[1] The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche.

^[2] Philosophy as a way of life, Hadot, P.

^[3] Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche, 24.

^[4] The Gay Science, 290, Nietzsche.

^[5] Untimely Meditations: Schopenhauer as Educator, Nietzsche.

^[6] Twilight of the Idols, 33.

^[7] The Gay Science, 290.

^[8] Ecce Homo, Why I Am So Clever, 10; Nietzsche.