Joys in Artistry

Having not written a blog post in many months, I suddenly feel compelled to share my thoughts. There are events and objects in the arts that increase my adrenalin and make me honored to be a small of the arts world, works that provide great joy both personally and collectively. While preferences are often singular, in most cases I respond to the arts in expected ways I suppose. If I were the only person who loved the works of Jackson Pollock, then why would his original works be favored by collectors? So I must admit, that in spite of the desire to posit contrarian artistic views, likely my responses are similar to most people. Yet, conformity aside, individual responses are, in fact, unique to that person and whether or not the responses are the same or different from other people is inconsequential. If a person enjoys a good cup of coffee and soon learns that thousands, perhaps millions, also enjoy a good cup of coffee, this does not reduce the individual enjoyment. It makes the experience somewhat collective but it still remains emotionally and personally satisfying. I may love to see the Mona Lisa by DaVinci and I may indeed recognize that my love of the Mona Lisa is not greater nor lesser than much of the world; yet, it is still my own love and is not negated nor strengthened by the market forces of love of the work.

With a broad view of the arts that encompasses both judgment and acceptance, I tend to see the world in cultural, artistic terms rather than scientifically. Most events past, present, and future seem to be more artistically driven than scientifically conceived. Data and objective reason can shape much of our decisions, but in the end it is art that defines the human experience, making life more art than science. In spite of my comprehensive and holistic view of art, I do believe that most people think of art in terms of positive good feelings and satisfying emotions. If an oil painting, a play, a movie, a book, a piece of music is enjoyed, then it must be good art or, to take it another step, it must be art. Therefore if a work of art is emotionally satisfying, then not only is it quality art it excludes other art not satisfying or unappealing. As we follow this logic, then we must conclude several things: 1) Good art is appealing, 2) Bad art is not appealing, 3) Good art represents the finest art, 4) Bad art is to be rejected, 5) Good art has become synonymous with art, and 6) Bad art should not be considered art at all. Such conclusions are without merit and force us to accept only that art that is appealing to an individual.

I recall a heated discussion with a person showing me an artwork that was not appealing in any sense. Her conclusion in the discussion was that the work was not art at all and should be forbidden from being seen. While I agreed that it did not need to be seen, I took umbrage that it was not art. By her definition, art is only art if it appealed to her sense of artistry. While I want to respect her conclusion, I soundly disagree with it. Not only is it weak to acknowledge art based entirely on personal views, it is ultimately unfair to what the arts mean in culture.

Recognizing this as a somewhat dangerous view, I cannot help but believe that all sound is music, all sights are visual art, all written expressions literary art, and all interaction theatre art. Knowing that most if not all people disagree with the previous statement does not deter me in the slightest in my broad view of art and culture. Yet the danger in such an inclusive view of art is in its lack of criteria for excellence. If all sound is music, then is it all equal? If so, then its very equality makes it either all grand and amazing or perhaps all mediocre or even poor. The idea of all being art, regardless of the time, value, or recognized quality, seems to shout that neither good art nor bad art matters in our cultural awareness.

But I admit that I gravitate to the idea that all around me is art and that judgment is personal and based primarily on the emotional or rather the artistic impact the work makes on the individual. Which then circles me back to art providing personal and collective joy in our society. I love reading a great book or even a beautifully written sentence. Here is one:  “The business of the poet and the novelist is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things.” ― Thomas Hardy. I love seeing great art such as this piece by Rubens:



My love of the music of Brahms has never stopped: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-qMtWVf0NA, nor my love of the Sibelius Violin Concerto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpS_u5RvMpM. Of course who can deny the theatre of Shakespeare or the power of Eugene ONeill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTQDkNuSaJY? Yet I also enjoy the rock music of Chicago and Bon Jovi, the paintings of Mondrian, the minimalism of Philip Glass, the film music of John Williams, the detective novels of Robert Parker, and the list continues. The sheer strength of great art (defined by its impact not only on me but on thousands, millions of others as well) is balanced by art that is meaningful but not as transformational such as comic books, furniture, home architecture, pop music, light dramas.

Our lives are filled with tension and repose as found in all of art, both completing our emotional gaps and cleansing them at the same time. Yet no definition of art has ever been entirely satisfactory leading me to seek not after a definition but rather a response. Art is transformational and great art more transformational than average or poor art. I am changed more by the writing of Dickens than I am the writing of David Morrell (one of my favorite modern writers) and I am impacted more by the music of Wagner than I am the music of One Direction (again, another current favorite). Regardless of the emotional response, in the end I find great joy in artistry of all types, shapes, and sizes, recognizing that the finest in artistry is that which is the most transformational, often having withstood the test of time. The arts are a blast and I will always remain a great advocate for the arts in our society.