Sunday, April 23, 2017

What Even Is Art

One of my favorite quotes from Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is "Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy." I've found that whenever I'm admiring work in an art museum, listening to a new song, or even creating something of my own, this quote comes to mind every. Single. Time. The truth is that art is a puzzling concept the deeper we look into it. As a human race, we feel a need to express ourselves through art because we're intellectuals. We produce art because we're intelligent. With this in mind, however, why is art so ridiculous?

I've always considered myself equal parts romantic and skeptic. I adore art and everything it stands for. I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for all the colors and sounds I've surrounded myself with throughout my life. But even so, I tend to over-analyze, and with each work of art I admire, even if it absolutely thrills me, I still have this voice in the back of my mind questioning- "Why is this even important?" often followed by the flippant conclusion, "This has been done a thousand times before." Every piece of art has been inspired by another. At this point in our timeline, it's nearly impossible for a human to create something entirely original. Austin Kleon brings the point home in his book Steal Like An Artist, which I highly recommend. In the book, (which is very short and ideal for skimmers) Kleon establishes that no, you aren't original, but that by no means suggests you shouldn't make art. And it was this book among several others that proved to me that everything is essentially a collage. This includes who we are as artists, and on a grander scale, who we are as individuals.

A stellar example of a no-nonsense and slightly ironic quote you'll find in Steal Like An Artist

I myself have dappled in art. I wouldn't say I'm incredible. As an artist, I've always thought of myself as 'the jack of all trades but the master of none'. I can sort of draw. I can sort of write songs. The following are just a few collages I whipped together online.

"Those Who Can't Paint Make Collages"

"Everything Is a Copy of a Copy of a Copy"


"Fear of Death // Accepting Mortality"


"You Are Who You Listen To"

"Overthinking"
"Antisocial Media"


For each one I've made, I was reasonably proud of them upon publishing them, but with every passing day, I've grown to hate them. Honestly, though, in analyzing it further, what really makes good art anyway? What differentiates the good from the bad? In its rawest form, 'good' art is based on personal taste. Why the Mona Lisa received so much attention I'm sure came from the taste of the masses at that time, and moreover from the opinions of those with the most social power. Art gets famous, in my belief, from being at the right place at the right time. Talent plays a significant role of course, but gaining recognition is more or less dependent on happy accidents.

A fun little game you can play when looking at a piece of artwork is asking people why they like it. For some, it will have a profound, symbolic meaning that rings true for them. And for others, they like it purely because it's aesthetically pleasing. And the truth is, that neither one is wrong. There is no wrong way to appreciate art. And that's what's so remarkably freeing and ridiculous about the entire prospect, this need within us to express ourselves through color and sound and language... why do you think it is that humans have this engrained within us? What exactly is the evolutionary need for us to be a race of artists?

We adore art because we need it somehow as a reason to keep living. There is none of us that would want to continue life without any form of saving grace, and for many, that is exactly what art is.

But even still, art is extremely subjective. Wouldn't many agree that even nature in itself is art? Human nature? Even our respective professions can be described as "an art and a science". Perhaps the true definition of art is reserved to things that save us in some way. That save us from the mundane. From reality. From having to explain a thought or a feeling ourselves. Art is whatever object or song or smear or city or person that blows you away, even if only for a moment.