What Does Art Mean To Me?
Category : Arts
Art means different things to different people. For me art means a few things:
It’s imperfect. In fact, in my view, it should not be perfect. Perfection is manufactured and it’s the imperfections that make art original, different and well, art. But then art throughout the ages has been imperfect and different. Abstract art for example is certainly a distortion. Art, where colours are unrealistic or unique, is another example. Unless you’re an alien from Star Trek, humans usually don’t have blue skin. However in art, a subject can have any skin tone the artist chooses.
It’s in the eyes of the beholder. People see different things when it comes to art. Art can be interpreted in many ways; particularly if the art is somewhat abstract and not like a photograph. Ten different people can look at the same piece and ‘see’ and feel ten different things.
Art can be emotive. Art can elicit emotion from us and give us different feelings. Cinematology is a form of art; when you watch a movie, you can experience many different emotions; a painting or a drawing can help us to feel. That feeling may be joy, peacefulness, hope, anger, annoyance, sadness or something else. When you stand and look at a piece of art, you experience feelings. What is nicely interesting is that the same piece will elicit a different emotion from different viewers; as I said above, each piece is interpreted differently by different people.
Business can spoil being an artist. Art is one of those things (in my view) which changes for the artist, once they become a professional artist and do it as a business. There is the pressure to produce. Whether you’re feeling creative or not, you have deadlines to meet and pieces to produce. I think some artists also adjust what they do in their art to make it commercially appealing. They may know that a certain style, theme, colour or subject sells. So they produce more of that item in order to meet the expectations and demands of their customers.
Art is different, unique and can be almost anything. These days there is a tonne of mediums for art. Photography is considered art. Designing a logo can be considered art. In a Stainmaster TV commercial, Pro Hart threw red wine, cake and spaghetti onto a carpet and it was art. It was a classic; the old cleaning lady saying “Oh, Mr Hart – what a mess!” Gosh, many TV adverts are very artistic in their approach to getting us to buy.
Art is many things. Art can be visual, heard, read … art is music, television, social media posts, poetry, lyrics, the written word, books, theatre and sometimes you can be artistic in getting dressed or putting on your makeup. Art can be interior design, or painting or drawing, or baking a cake or preparing a meal. We can be creative in the garden, creative in decorating our Christmas tree or in putting together an advertising and marketing campaign.
Art has many purposes. Just as art can be many things, so it can have many purposes. It might be about filling a space on a wall, or making visitors feel welcome and safe (eg a medical doctor’s waiting room), it might want to challenge thought, or give us pleasure. Perhaps its sole purpose is to compel us to buy. Art may be about beauty or giving people pleasure.
We all have a creative bone in our bodies. Many people say they are not artistic and are hopeless at art. Yet I see they do some artistic things very well. They may not be traditionally a brilliant drawer, but they find their way of being creative and arty and often their medium, style or platform is just different. We all have some artistic flair in us; it’s purely a matter of finding our platform, medium and means to express ourselves and be creative.
To me, art is so many things. It encompasses our lives. It enriches our lives. It brings out feelings and emotions. Art is everywhere in our lives and in everything we do. This blog is even a form of art. The painting I create, or the drawing I produce are the more obvious forms of art in my day, but the reality is that almost every aspect of our lives incorporate some form of art. So go forth today and find your arty side or see the beauty of art around you – in nature, on your walls, on your computer screens or in the food you eat. Enjoy!
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