What Is Art? It’s not really for me to say, but I’m going to anyway.
But after over twenty years of selling art supplies, and endlessly dealing with artists, I’ve devised an open answer to this endlessly debatable question.
Hopefully, it won’t tread on too many toes. But… whatever.
Art… is when somebody learns something about themselves… through expressively creating something.
Using an act of Creation to see or clarify some facet of their existence, that was previously unperceived.
Making something on the outside, and seeing something about yourself on the inside.
Expressing yourself conceptually or proceduraly, and understanding yourself better after having processed the experience.
If you create something without learning anything new about yourself… that could be considered Craft.
Both are great, and require skill, but learning something about yourself is awesome, and wonderful to share.
Art is a documentation of you choosing to change. An physical example of an evolutionary effort.
If your expression is personally uneducational, then it’s not art. Or at least, it’s not very good art.
It doesn’t have to be some profound, conscious revelation, but it does have to feel like you’re actually trying to understand something about yourself. That you’re trying to challenge your own preconceptions of self perception.
When life is boring, it means you’re not paying enough attention. Boring art is a document of someone not paying much attention to their life.
By creating interesting art, you show that you’re focussing your attention in exciting ways. Perceiving yourself from the inside out. Revealing an opportunity of perception that you didn’t know was available before you tried looking.
Transferring internal perception into external expression.
It’s exciting, seeing something new about yourself, and good art gives people an external example of that internal potential.
The more an artist learns about themselves through the act of creation, the more the viewer can feel a reflective self-revelation from viewing their art.
Art is a documentation of the artist’s growth, and the process they’ve used to achieve it.
People are inspired by examples of consciousness, evolving self-awareness. By seeing someone work to find themselves.
That’s the goal we’re all consciously or unconsciously trying to achieve.
We’re trying to learn who we are.
We’re trying to perceive ourselves.
We’re trying to find new processes of evolution.
Good art is great, but the true wonder resides within the continuing evolution of our self-awareness.
Art is potentially a gift of procedural evolution in action. Potentially making self discovery more accessible.
The best art is a reflection of someone’s self-discovery, clearly shared.
Much like the best relationships, good art is about people sharing their inner learning.