sutistoy
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WHat is art for?
I have done creative stuff since I was three. Over the years, I have taken a few classes, read a few books to try and expand my knowledge a bit. I have come to only a few solid conclusions on the matter. We see art today largely in the form of ads, on tv, movies, bookcovers, items at the store etc. Well, some of that falls under design, but it all equals something someone made. There seems, in our modern world, a lot less of the importance that used to be placed on art, or, perhaps modern society values it a little less unless it's involved with text messages and so on. ANyhow, its easy to wonder what the point is after a while. I think somewhere along the line, art is salvation, maybe more for the creator than the viewer, but for the viewer as well, if one is open to the experience. Few artists get recognized intheir lifetimes.... this seems true often as well, but then, I don't think real artists do what they do for the glory ( its just a nice benefit sometimes!). Maybe once the world slows down again, art will become a more focal part of society again. We don't see modern countries emerge that are anything like egypt was, or rome, or greece. One can hope, maybe in a future age, that cultures with a backbone in art will come back again.... busy hands lead to less war, perhaps, or at least a more useful occupation of time. Also, it seems to me that most creative folks, or several at least, seem almost as reclusive as me, and the highly dedicated ones tend to be even wierder than I, if that's possible. Maybe its because we are often rather introverted. Maybe its because the whole creative process is so absorbing that it can literally shut the rest of the world out, and its sometimes a neccesary state in order to get things accomplished. FOr thosoe of us who do it, its like an addiction... I am praying that I can make a career out of it, because regular jobs that go nowhere for years and years are draining the life out of me, and I'm not that old yet. The less I get to create things, the more depressed I get. SOmetimes, creativity becomes a sort of hiding place when things get bad, a sanctuary. At the same time, one tends to beat oneself up when we don't get the results out of our work we want ( at least, I do). We are our own worst critics. It is a constant, ongoing process.
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12/21/2008, 10:04 pm
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de Corbin
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Re: WHat is art for?
Wow, Sutistoy, you've touched on a lot of things that I've been thinking about lately!
In my job I am constantly being told that we are shifting from a literary culture (where information is transmitted in writing) to a visual culture (where information is transmitted in pictures). The evidence of this is that young people spend more time watching TV than reading...
Well, despite that, I have to agree with you that we are not becoming a "visual" culture. To become a visual culture, people would have to enter into an intellectual relationship with what they see - they'd have to think about what they see, analyze it, explore it, criticise it - in other words, they'd have to take it in and work on it with their mind.
But most people don't. They look, and they accept what they are shown, but that's about it.
What's actually happening is that we are becoming a "passive" culture where people just take whatever is handed to them, without ever realizing that they have choices to make.
There was a time when people really thought about art - about what it was, what it could do, what is should be and what it should do, to say nothing about what it meant. Now it often seems that art is just something used to fill a blank space on a wall.
I'd sure like it to become meaningful again.
I'm not sure that it will stop wars... but it might stop people's minds from becoming overly passive, and that might stop a few wars...
---   |
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12/29/2008, 7:38 am
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sutistoy
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Re: WHat is art for?
Well human nature and idle thoughts often lead to wars in one form or another. By and large, everyone seems rather unaffected by what they see and what others do. Seen Wall-E yet? My youngest loves it, and it is a little nonsensical as expected, but the underlying message of what people could become, if they actually get any lazier, is pretty interesting. I wonder sometimes, probably not unlike other creative folks, if anyone appreciates what we do more than a mere glance... in my case, its vital that they do, because my livelihood will depend on it! Will enough people appreciate it, or have a use for it? I wonder. I think perhaps one winds up having to evolve to keep up with "public" interests in trying to make a creative living, but it feels somewhat like a sell out doing so. Of course, again,I'm sure I would not be the first one to have done so to survive.
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12/29/2008, 11:38 pm
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Saijen SilverWolf
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Re: WHat is art for?
I think one of the problems with our culture, along with those that are lazy, are people who are constantly on the go, rush to work, rush to pick up kids, rush to kids ball games/practice, rush home to a rushed meal, rush back out to ballet practice, and on it goes. With people like that, who has the time to stop and actually enjoy a piece of art? Thankfully I don't spend my days rushing. What I would like to spend my days doing is going to a decent museum or art gallery and being able to look at things at my leisure. One of my favorite stores here in town in the Local Artists Gallery, where many artists have their work for sale. Some is woodwork, some is painting, some is jewelry, etc. It's a nice variety. I could spend hours in there just looking at stuff. Most I can't afford, but that doesn't mean I can't look, and enjoy.
My only artistic ability is my fractal art, which sometimes one piece can take several hours to perfect. It would be nice to have some of it printed and framed, but I doubt many would bother to really look at it and see what I saw when it was created. It's sad that while in some sense, we have become a visual culture, but it's in a lazy sense (playstations, TV, computer games, etc.) People will take the time to learn how to play a game, but when it comes to things that truly matter, they ask, "Well, what difference does it make if I bother to look at it or not?" It makes a difference to the person who took the time to create the piece. It doesn't matter if you like it or not, just take the time to REALLY look at it and then make an 'informed' decision about how you feel about it.
Idle hands tend to get into trouble (battles, war, or even just bar fights!). I think if the mind and hands were more engaged in positive creativity, then the negative wouldn't be as prone to rear it's ugly head.
It would be nice if we were to become a nation of true artistic creativity and people who truly enjoyed that creativity as a viewer. I don't see it happening any time in the near future, but we can hope!
Sutistoy, I wish you all the best in your endeavors to make your living with your art. I can't think of a nicer way to work and make a life for yourself.
--- Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~
~~*~~  .~~*~~ |
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1/11/2009, 11:05 pm
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Saijen SilverWolf
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Re: WHat is art for?
very true, Corbin!
--- Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~
~~*~~ .~~*~~ |
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1/15/2009, 4:53 pm
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sutistoy
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Re: WHat is art for?
All of us fall victim to the rush, and we feel time is often against us. I know I do... I am always running. Read Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and he deftly shows how time can be, even though his realms have it quite magnified and blurred at different points. What is bad is, the longer you have to rush, the more engrained it becomes. I had a wonderful opportunity to slow down this weekend.. homework done, son at the sitter, me at the local ren faire trying to take in everything. I tried, I really did, to slow down. And yet there was too much to do, and the day seemed to fly by. When I came home I was thinking of possibilities creatively, but mired down by the time needed to do such things as I would. So, I get depressed, if only because I feel like I will never get to everything I want to. This is a hard time to live in.
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1/25/2009, 10:21 pm
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de Corbin
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Re: WHat is art for?
Yup - I'll ditto that.
Currently, my job is eating all my time, and when it isn't, I'm still thinking about it, so I've not gotten much done.
Right now it's eight o'clock. I got the lab cleaned up so I can go down and do some work tomorrow, and I've got some sketches done, and my drawing tools ready, but I won't get much work done tonight, either...
I guess I'll just fritter away some time on the internet  , then go to bed.
--- |
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1/26/2009, 7:55 pm
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Saijen SilverWolf
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Re: WHat is art for?
In many ways, being on disability makes life easier to deal with, on the subject of rushing about. About the only time I get in a rush is if I'm late for a dr. appointment, but I try very hard to allow more than enough time to get myself ready and for travel time, especially if I have to go to one of the larger cities for the appointment. I rarely live by the clock.
One thing I just realized that I do....at any doctor's office I go in to, I always look at the art on the walls. It never fails. I always want to see what kinds of prints and stuff they have around the waiting room and in the exam rooms. Some offices are a bit sterile in that area, having only medical stuff on the walls, while others have some abstract paintings or garden pictures. One doctor I see has a beautiful wall sculpture of a horse's head, and several pictures on his walls in the waiting room of horses or rural scenes. His exam rooms all have at least one nice print on the wall. The art seems to serve, at least to me, as a means to calm me. I have no clue how others view it, but that's how it is for me.
Art is also a wonderful way to preserve history and important happenings and people.
Around our town, several offices have prints of a painting that was done when this town was still very young. Dirt roads, horses, etc. It's so neat to see how the town was then, and look at it today and see what has, and has not changed. My town is the second oldest town in the state of Tennessee, so you can imagine the history here. I love that I can view that history due to the creative abilities of artists long gone. It's a shame more people don't realize the value of art, not the monetary value, but the personal value they gain, as well as knowledge, in some cases (like my town's history).
--- Blessed Be,
~*~ Saijen ~*~
~~*~~ .~~*~~ |
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2/4/2009, 2:58 pm
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KashakuTatsu
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Re: WHat is art for?
*Puts in her two cents*
For me art is for connection. I don't do it for anyone other than myself. I feel the most connected with myself and the universe around me when I'm creating something. It is an expression and extension of myself (physically and spiritually). It's my hopes and fears, desires, and emotions. It is a mirror into who I am. It has been helpful in spiritual awakenings as well as emotional breakthroughs.
The pieces created keep that energy and help fill the home with a peaceful grounded feeling. When I get out of touch, I go to my previous works to meditate by them or pick up a pencil and start a new one. That is usually fool proof to bring me back.
--- 
-= Tol'sha of Serpens Via =- |
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3/29/2009, 6:41 am
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