Art is Important
I have absolutely no idea what is going on here with these colors and the spacing. Obviously I am doing something wrong. Here is what you need to know – there are links to all the bloggers and articles embedded in this post! If you can’t find them, let me know because they are important. I will sooner or later figure this out!
Today, I have been thinking again about the meaning of the arts. What got me going was a posting by Fiona Long about her recent trip to Tokyo from London. On her current post she talks about a lecture she attended given by the Chinese artist, Song Dong. Fiona tells an amazing story of how one person’s life meant something entirely different to them than it did to her children and how art brought those lives closer together. It also made me think how this story was about so much more than art, it was about love, culture, values, responsibilities, memories, the environment, and so many more things that make up lives. Please follow the link and read this amazing story.
- a bit of a work in progress
When I went to pay a visit to Miranda, I found she had written a post about ‘How to Survive an Art Critique’. She provided some excellent points and I encourage you to read what she shares. We all have those people who like to play critic in our lives if they are professionals or not. One thing this post made me think about was how different people get different impressions/feelings from the same piece of art. Often it is very different from even the intentions of the artist and this could be due to the different experiences in life not so much to the failure of the artist. In my mind, if the artist’s objective is for the viewer (professional critic or otherwise) to see or feel something particular, then it usually has to be blatant and that, in itself, may not be in every one’s best interest. As artists, we can take responsibility for what we create, but we cannot take responsibility for what the viewer sees or feels. They clearly have had different life experiences, and we should not expect the same emotions. This doesn’t mean there are not positive things which come from a critique.
We all know artists have great responsibilities, and I think one of those responsibilities is to find a way to touch the viewer in unexpected ways. If we give people something to think about and things to contemplate, then they can, and hopefully will, go forth and do the tasks they do in a better, more thoughtful way. Often, if they don’t, the experience is too painful for them at that moment. Some people just are not ready for the mirror art holds up to them.
In the LA Times on Friday (25 September 2009) there was an article about the address Michelle Obama gave to art students and the spouses of the G-20 leaders in Pittsburgh. The paper quotes Mrs. Obama as saying, ” That is the power of the arts – to remind us of what we each have to offer, and what we all have in common; to help us understand our history and imagine our future; to give us hope in the moments of struggle; and to bring us together when nothing else will. That is what we celebrate here today.” With this said, visit Judith Dobrzynski’s blog to see what else happened in the art world at the G-20! Chalk one up to art!
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