Form And A Function

 

If art never aged or wasn't judged by time
How much would be left? 
How much would survive?
Aesthetic erosion of the coast by the sea
If we just left, how much would there be?

A picture is a sum of destruction
Beauty as a form of reduction
A picture is a frame of construction
Beauty as a form and a function

Art exists as a record of the world
In cuneiform or figures on a mural
A palimpsest, laid to rest
Beauty is a pattern that connects

A picture is a sum of destruction
Beauty as a form of reduction
A picture is a frame of construction
Beauty as a form and a function 

Copyright 2026 Lee Barry. Rights in lyrics reserved.  

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0260. Beauty is the pattern that connects.

0774. If beauty=form, then function follows form (art/design for its own sake). If beauty=function, then form follows function (things that ‘work beautifully’). If function follows form in a continuous loop you can have continuous beauty until function fails. What used to work beautifully would no longer have any beauty until someone tries to revive it or recycle it. [6/2025: I have referred to this as “aesthetic erosion”, or what Robert McFarlane calls “Shifting baseline syndrome“ in his latest book].