I was meeting with my AA group yesterday. That's Art Accountability group to you! And a certain someone brought up how her family was taught that art is a luxury. And the 3rd person in our group agreed!!! I was SHOCKED to say the least.
Art is NOT a luxury, especially for an artist. Art is a *M.F'en necessity!
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| A little Rococo for ya! |
I'm still in shock. Image, if you will, there is no art. Look around you. Bare walls, no color, every piece of furniture ceases to have style. Every house would look a-like, all our clothes would only be utilitarian. Art is embedded into every nook and cranny of our cultures. You might not think of yourself as an artist, but every time you arrange your furniture, pick a particular combo of clothes, paint a room, arrange a flower vase, you are expressing yourself. You are creating a composition. You are, in fact, living art.
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Horse
c. 15,000-10,000 BC
Lascaux, Franc |
Now, if you don't consider
yourself and artist, and apparently even if you are an artist, you may disagree with me. But you'd be wrong. :) Art has been an integral part of society. I'll spare the art history lesson today.
Function without form? Sounds horrible. For me, art is a necessity! A staple in life's my diet. My hope is that it becomes that for you too! A life without expression hardly seems worth living.
Disagree? I'd love to hear why! Agree? Do tell!!
*M.F'en is my abbreviation for a shocking offensive pairing of swear words, same for WTF! :) Just in case you didn't know.
7 comments:
I wonder if they also see "crafts, craftwork, hand-craft" as a luxury"?? Maybe they meant having the time to create is the luxury, or having money to buy other people's creations/art, a luxury?
Wondering,
in Wippenham
Dear Wondering in Wippenham, Good question! Maybe it is a time issue? Hopefully someone will chime in on that!
ok... let's see if I can clarify what I meant.
Necessity is food and water. not matter what kind of food. we can survive with the bare vitamins and minerals. Heat and rest is a necessity. We need both.
Beauty is a wonderment. it's not a necessity.. it comes from a place of appreciate... of grace.
to be able to create we need to have not just the necessity in mind but the grace of the creator with us. that may be god, the universe... it does not come from us.. it comes from the connection from wherever we come from.
and to connect to That! we need to come from a place of appreciation for our gifts. In creating we make our gifts to the world and give permission for others to create. but again this is not a necessity. It's a gift we give and pass it along.
What I'm gathering in my exploration is that art is not an obligation it's a luxury that we are entitled to have. and we deserve to take it and make it because we were given this gift. like a singer sings, or a dancer dances or a preacher preaches.
the cave man paintings were a message... not a necessity. fire was a necessity. but we as humans can go beyond necessity and make Beauty.
Again Beauty can only be appreciated from a place of grace.. gratitude...love...appreciation.
is love a necessity? i would say no..it's a gift :)
Nancy, Could you survive without it? :)
You are talking about physical survival, and actually we don't need fire to survive. But it's sure nice!
How would your mental state be without it? In that case isn't it a necessity?
I'll agree some would consider it a gift. But what about those artists that are compete atheists? No belief any thing beyond us?
i have survived without it...but have not been fulfilled without it.
i think we must make it what we need to make it. if you need to need it and it makes you produce then that's that.
but i think all artists know there is a connection to everything when we create.
it does not have to be god or another being.
if it was a necessity people would be committing suicide when they couldn't create. we bide our time wait to get out of work... or for the kids to go to school..grow up.....we beat ourselves up when we can't or won't create but we survive...wishing... to create eventually.
http://www.scoutiegirl.com/2010/04/on-the-luxury-of-chocolate-cake.html
i hadnt read this till now so i am not influenced by her...but i think its a necessary luxury... we need to give ourself the "permission" to make our luxuries to be happy...
Interesting thought. I agree and disagree and will explain. The ability to MAKE art is NOT a luxury but a NECESSITY; however, the ability to purchase art is a luxury.
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