--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Art is not consciousness per se, but…" description: "\"Art is not consciousness per se, but rather its antidote- evolved from within consciousness itself.\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d00/susan-sontag-332_antidote_art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rath_772630.jpg" --- # Art is not consciousness per se, but rather its antidote… ![“Art is not consciousness per se, but rather its antidote- evolved from within consciousness itself.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d00/susan-sontag-332_antidote_art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rath_772630.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d00/susan-sontag-332_antidote_art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rath_772630.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d00/susan-sontag-332_antidote_art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rath_772630.jpg) > “Art is not consciousness per se, but rather its antidote- evolved from within consciousness itself.” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art serves as a conscious antidote, emerging from within awareness itself. **In simple terms:** Art counters consciousness. Key Takeaway Let art be a conscious response. Themes art consciousness reflection Mood thoughtful introspective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - museum visits - creative writing - mindful observation - therapy sessions Key Concepts aesthetic theory philosophy of mind Questions to Reflect On - How does art change your perception? - What role does consciousness play in creating art? A Different Perspective Art may not reach everyone equally. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Consciousness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consciousness/) [Philosophy of Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophy-of-mind/) ## Related quotes > [Art is the heart's explosion on the world. Music. Dance. Poetry. Art on cars, on walls, on our skins. There is probably no more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luis-j-rodr-guez/art-is-the-heart-s-explosion-on-the-world-music-dance-poetry-art-on/) [Luis J. Rodriguez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luis-j-rodr-guez/) > [All forms of art are consciousness expanders, and I am convinced that they will take us further, and more consciously, than drugs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madeleine-l-engle/all-forms-of-art-are-consciousness-expanders-and-i-am-convinced-that/) [Madeleine L'Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madeleine-l-engle/) > [For me, now, feminist art must show a consciousness of women's social and economic position in the world. I also believe it demonstrates forms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-lacy/for-me-now-feminist-art-must-show-a-consciousness-of-women-s-social/) Suzanne Lacy > [A work of art is one through which the consciousness of the artist is able to give its emotions to anyone who is prepared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-rukeyser/a-work-of-art-is-one-through-which-the-consciousness-of-the-artist-is-2/) [Muriel Rukeyser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-rukeyser/) > [“Art is a consciousness-provoking vessel.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-nicolai/art-is-a-consciousness-provoking-vessel/) [ELLE NICOLAI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-nicolai/) > [A work of art is one through which the consciousness of the artist is able to give its emotions to anyone who is prepared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-rukeyser/a-work-of-art-is-one-through-which-the-consciousness-of-the-artist-is/) [Muriel Rukeyser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-rukeyser/) > [“Transcendental artists are messengers. Their symbolic vocabulary originates from the infinite wisdom of higher spheres, in a non-referential time/space continuum... the way of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-nicolai/transcendental-artists-are-messengers-their-symbolic-vocabulary/) [ELLE NICOLAI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-nicolai/) > [Art is the consciousness of currency.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lakey/art-is-the-consciousness-of-currency/) [Andrew Lakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lakey/) > [Interpretation, based on the highly dubious theory that a work of art is composed of items of content, violates art. It makes art into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/interpretation-based-on-the-highly-dubious-theory-that-a-work-of-art/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [If one is experiencing poverty, practice ordinary and extreme generosity - this is the antidote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jetsunma-ahkon-lhamo/if-one-is-experiencing-poverty-practice-ordinary-and-extreme/) [Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jetsunma-ahkon-lhamo/) > [“Relevance is both an antidote to avoid and a method for driving disruption.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-spitz/relevance-is-both-an-antidote-to-avoid-and-a-method-for-driving/) [Roger Spitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-spitz/) > [Gratitude is the antidote to bitterness and resentment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-j-ryan/gratitude-is-the-antidote-to-bitterness-and-resentment/) [M. J. Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-j-ryan/) > [FAITH is the only known antidote for FAILURE!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/faith-is-the-only-known-antidote-for-failure/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-safe-and-general-antidote-against-sorrow-is-employment/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Every well-thought-out rebuttal to dogma, every scrap of intelligent logic, every absurdist reduction of some bullying stance is the antidote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sanders/every-well-thought-out-rebuttal-to-dogma-every-scrap-of-intelligent/) [George Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sanders/) ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-not-eliminate-schooling-between-age-12-16-it-s-biologically/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-photograph-people-is-to-violate-them-by-seeing-them-as-they-never/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One set of messages of the society we live in is: Consume. Grow. Do what you want. Amuse yourselves. The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Antidote quotes > [Every well-thought-out rebuttal to dogma, every scrap of intelligent logic, every absurdist reduction of some bullying stance is the antidote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-sanders/every-well-thought-out-rebuttal-to-dogma-every-scrap-of-intelligent/) [George Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-sanders/) > [The safe and general antidote against sorrow is employment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/the-safe-and-general-antidote-against-sorrow-is-employment/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [FAITH is the only known antidote for FAILURE!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/faith-is-the-only-known-antidote-for-failure/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [Gratitude is the antidote to bitterness and resentment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-j-ryan/gratitude-is-the-antidote-to-bitterness-and-resentment/) [M. J. Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-j-ryan/) > [“Relevance is both an antidote to avoid and a method for driving disruption.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-spitz/relevance-is-both-an-antidote-to-avoid-and-a-method-for-driving/) [Roger Spitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-spitz/) > [If one is experiencing poverty, practice ordinary and extreme generosity - this is the antidote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jetsunma-ahkon-lhamo/if-one-is-experiencing-poverty-practice-ordinary-and-extreme/) [Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jetsunma-ahkon-lhamo/) > [Beto is banking on his sacharrine positivity as the ultimate antidote to President Trump's honest saltiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kennedy-montgomery/beto-is-banking-on-his-sacharrine-positivity-as-the-ultimate-antidote/) [Lisa Kennedy Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kennedy-montgomery/) > [Every evil has its good, and every ill an antidote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothea-dix/every-evil-has-its-good-and-every-ill-an-antidote/) [Dorothea Dix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothea-dix/) > [A round of golf is the ideal antidote to stress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-forsyth/a-round-of-golf-is-the-ideal-antidote-to-stress/) [Bruce Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-forsyth/) > [Medical men have searched the world for remedies, desiring an antidote. Chiropractors find the cause in the person ailing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-j-palmer/medical-men-have-searched-the-world-for-remedies-desiring-an-antidote/) [B. J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-j-palmer/) > [Hope that is the only antidote to fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-armstrong/hope-that-is-the-only-antidote-to-fear/) [Lance Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-armstrong/) > [Music can minister to minds diseased, pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, raze out the written troubles of the brain, and with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/music-can-minister-to-minds-diseased-pluck-from-the-memory-a-rooted/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Both to the rich and poor, wine is the happy antidote for sorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/both-to-the-rich-and-poor-wine-is-the-happy-antidote-for-sorrow/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny. It's the only one. It's based on thousands of years of human experience. There is nothing narrow about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/conservatism-is-the-antidote-to-tyranny-it-s-the-only-one-it-s-based/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The antidote for fear of failure is not success but small doses of failure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-batterson/the-antidote-for-fear-of-failure-is-not-success-but-small-doses-of/) [Mark Batterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-batterson/) Browse all 412 Antidote quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Art is not consciousness per se, but rather its antidote- evolved from within consciousness itself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Sontag" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rather-its-antidote-evolved-from/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Antidote" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rather-its-antidote-evolved-from/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d00/susan-sontag-332_antidote_art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rath_772630.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d00/susan-sontag-332_antidote_art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rath_772630.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d00/susan-sontag-332_antidote_art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rath_772630.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Art is not consciousness per se, but rather its antidote- evolved from within consciousness itself.” — Susan Sontag", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Susan Sontag", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Art is not consciousness per se,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rather-its-antidote-evolved-from/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/art-is-not-consciousness-per-se-but-rather-its-antidote-evolved-from/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```