Cary Tennis On Adaptation

[...]And the dizzying confusion foist upon us by artworks of chaos and seeming randomness -- that too is instructive. For it is that same dizzying confusion that comes upon us when our accustomed structures of family and work threaten to collapse. In the midst of it we learn to maintain a calm surface -- even as our skin is burned off and our bodies disappear in the flames.

Ah. That's the trick! Maintaining!

At first nothing happens. You stand in the fire of art and all that happens is you burn. That is no fun. But then you see it's not just you that is burning: Something around you is being burned away. Layers of assumption and fear and grime are being burned away. As you burn, you start to see the sculpture in a new way.