I have no fucking clue what this was about. I tried reading, then skimming, then thought about it for a bit. Seems like a bunch of personal feelings stringed together in a rambling sort of way, but apparently they resonate with many people?
I'd be very grateful if someone could ELI5 the whole thing.
On a separate note, is HN the right forum for this?
It's prose, it's not a technical manual. There's no "ELI5" for art, because art happens inside you. For example, "Wave" (1889) by Ivan Aivazovsky[1] is a painting I really like. It speaks to me, but how do you "ELI5" it? There's nothing to "explain" about art, unless you only dissect art into the technical details of the painting -- because you look at it, and either you like it or you don't. If you don't like it, that's not from a lack of "understanding" the painting, there's not a bridge of knowledge you need to cross, you are entitled to simply not like it and that's fine. The fact that I do, and maybe you don't, doesn't really say anything about whether it's a good piece of art or not, or whether you understand art, etc.
I can understand that some art cannot be (usefully) explained; I imagine paintings, especially modern art, might end up in that category.
It's very common, however, for people to explain what's going on in a literary work such as a short story, a novel, etc. Therefore, I don't find your argument (that there's no way to ELI5 this) very convincing.
(On an unrelated note, I do like the painting you linked.)
I'd be very grateful if someone could ELI5 the whole thing.
On a separate note, is HN the right forum for this?