The question of whether self-destruction is the essence of art can be answered by looking at the lives of certain artists discussed in this book. Through their creative endeavors, they transcend themselves and reach the innermost possibilities of their art. Art reveals to them the subtleties of their functional lives. By expressing the multiple dimensions of life through art, they detach themselves from the material world and exist merely as observers. In this process, they rediscover themselves. Each time, they pose the same question to us: "What is the purpose of continuing to live this life?"