Is the art we make important?

[cmustard]

Someone made a comment to me that they "don't think the world needs more pictures"
Is the art we make really important? Not just to the makers but, to people living and working today.
Why do we do it, is it just self-fullfilling with imagined value?

[ironman]

Hi, Well, someone has to (hopefully) balance the scales against all that terrible cast concrete lawn statuary!!!!!!!
My work is important to me and maybe to the people who buy it.
I do think it's important to make art, if only to adorn someones livingroom wall with a painting or their lawn with a sculpture.
Everything in this world has been touched by a creative person. Someone designed it, whether or not it's a chair, a table or a toilet bowl, someone drew a picture and said, "here, this is what I want to make", or, "is this what you want me to make?".
Man it seems has drawn pictures (caves of Lasceaux) or made sculpture ( Venus of Willendorf) for a long time.
Now, I know that much early art was done for ritual or religious purposes, and designers drawings are strictly utilitarian, I still can't help feeling that they were nice to look at when made and still are today. In other words, beauty, as an ancillary function of these paintings, drawings and sculptures was always part of the mix.
In today's advanced (?) civilization where, at least in the developed countries, a leisure class is in place, ( people don't have to scrounge every day for the basics) art HAS become important. Try to imagine a world without painting or sculpture.
Even in 3rd world countries, there seems to be some instinctual need in some people to make things pretty (yeah, I know you hate that word!) or pleasing to the eye.
I think that for whatever reason there is some need in society as a whole to surround us with man made beauty.
Can you imagine going to Rome and not having the fountain of Trevi, St. Peters and the Sistene Chapel to look at! I can't!!!!!!!!!!!
Art's what makes the world go round!!!!!!
Have a great day,
Jeff

[GlennT]

I agree with Ironman's reply. To address the thought that " the world does not need more pictures" I would say that is a half truth. The world does not need any more lousy pictures. But the world certainly needs more beautiful and inspiring pictures.

As I have said on other posts, children especially take in and internalize patterns in the environment as part of their learning and self-identification process. There is a great need, and hopefully a sense of responsibility among artists, to create visual works that will serve as positive nurishment for this experience.

An additional reason is that " a thing of beauty is a joy forever".

GlennT

[evaldart]

The creative process has always advanced the inellects of individuals, it has nurtured skills, it has anhialated drudgery, it has spread the word (good and bad), it has ornamented everything from bathrooms to big cities...
Eating, sheltering ourselves, sleeping and reproducing are one set of motivations - creative impulses are another. Pondering the answers to certain impossible questions is a uniquely human characteristic, art provides us with a vocabulary for that pondering. And when words fail there is always "vision"...novicane for the pain of bewilderment. I think we need it.

[Tired Iron]

I read this question last nite when it was first posted. My mind raced and I thought I should think about a response for a bit before I sit down and actually type one out. As I returned to the post and read the responses already posted , my six year old daughter walked over to me and handed me a picture of an alligator wearing a sweater she had drawn today. What was my response? WOW! He is cute! You did a great job! His eyes buldge just like the ones we saw in Florida! She beamed. I asked her why she drew it. She said she just thought about the alligators she used to draw when she was younger and wanted to draw one again.. I asked if it was fun. She smiled from ear to ear. I smiled from ear to ear. She found pleasure at drawing and sharing the picture, I found it at viewing and keeping the picture to put up for future enjoyment. The art all of us make is important to someone. If not just for us, for the future viewing of generations to come even if those are our own decendents. TI OOOppps she said "I'm not six any more! I'm seven!" :D

[Merlion]

Is the art I make important? No. I work hard, try hard and just enjoy creating art.

Come to think of it. I do not see why it is important to make my art important.

[Peter Murphy]

I hope my art is of value to some extent, I see no reason to exist if what I've been put here to do is not important.

[Araich]

I always hope that the work after next will be an important one. It is one part of the creative drive to aspire to greatness, either personal or historical. Of course the only one that we can gauge is the personal. Time and perspective will take care of the other.

[terracotta]

Well, does the world need less art?

[terracotta]

Someone made a comment to me that they "don't think the world needs more pictures"
Is the art we make really important? Not just to the makers but, to people living and working today.
Why do we do it, is it just self-fullfilling with imagined value?

Two questions here, why
we do it

AND is it important to others?

How do you put a value on anything for that matter?

Why we do it? Frank Zappa's answer was that he'd never found anything better to do with his time.

[tonofelephant]

Art to me, is important to the people that make it and the people that cherish it and buy it. Honestly, there is nothing like getting up in the morning and knowing that I am so lucky - I get to sculpt today! The only thing that is honestly better is when you connect with the client who is buying it.

To illustrate. Recently I sold a large piece for me that was 40" tall. I made it 2 years ago and it was a hard piece to make. Hard in that it took forever to turn the corner and assume it's final shape and finish. Also heavy and awkward. But really liked it and am very proud of it. The client who has bought it is like a child at Christmas. She had written me several emails telling me how much she liked it and wanted to know more about it. Then, three months later, excitidly told me that she had gone ahead and bought it. When she found out I would drive 400 miles to make sure that it was properly installed she was completely beside herself.

Maybe that is what it is about - discovering or bringing out the passion in both the artist and the client, and being able to witness that event. At least it is for me. Sculpture is the means to that end.

Carl
tonofelephant

[cmustard]

I think everyone who has responded to this/these questions has given valid answers.

Maybe the art we make, collect and admire, becomes parts of who we are. Things we identify with shape our identity. That's important. On one level or another we all surround ourselves with non-functional objects.

They must have another function for us, cause everyone alive keeps doing it.

[terracotta]

my answer is that doing it is less bad than not doing it, don't feel right if not doing it.

Re why people value this stuff, there are so many theories... one being that artworks esp visual ones show in symbolic form things that you'd struggle to get into words... Or they value it because it makes them feel comfortable, or suitably unconfortable. Or that there are other realities that can only be accessed or hinted at with forms such as this.

[ironman]

Hi Tired Iron, wonderful story about your daughter. Kids are great!
Hi Merlion, sorry you feel that way. Don't you know that the art you make IS important just by the fact that YOU choose to make it.
Great posts here! Peter Murphy, Terracotta, Araich and everyone else!
Frank Zappa's quote says it all!
We, having passed the hunter/gatherer cave dwelling stage MUST find something to do with our time on this earth.
Some people become doctors, others rob banks, WE choose to make sculpture. It all boils down to a way to pass that time and we're fortunate to have a passion for something other than football!
Most people don't have a real passion or if they do, they don't realize it or pursue it with the zeal that we do.
that's where football, TV and all that other mind numbing stuff comes into play.
Have a great day,
Jeff

[jOe~]

Is it important? Why do we do it? Like Jean Renoir said "How do you know if you have to pee?" Peeing is important. You can't help doing it. It feels good. You do it every day. That no one wants to see it doesn't matter. You still do it. If art doesn't rate at least on the same level as piss, and you don't have to do it. then you know for sure you are not an artist. So to live, some of us have to do both...slow death will result from repressing either.
Oh, but you ask, is it important for society at large, art that is? Hell yeah!!! "Imagine if all the people" were more sensitive to life and made more art than misery. Some art that I've seen just sticks in my mind makes me smile every time I remember it...what a good thing that would be if more people smiled. Yeah, so now I'm recalling your work cmustard...and the smiling has never stopped. Thanks again.

jOe~

[JamesW]

To mutillate George Orwell:
'All art is important. Some art is more important than other art'

James

[cmustard]

Joe...sometimes we just have to pee and sometimes we have to pee like a race horse.

JamesW....I think that works well with the George Orwell quote too.

[Blacksun]

My mortgage company, electric company, grocer, etc (not to mention my wife) seems to think so.... :rolleyes:

[sculptor]

is politeness important?
is compassion important?
is integrity important?
is art important?
the all go to creating an integral aesthetic to the life experience

(conflicting aesthetics, however....like mustard on a custard)

if you've a positive vision and share it with other's eyes, mouths, noses, ears,
hands hearts and minds, then you share a path that enhances your fleeting moments

feed your children on the rich diversity of the vitality of life and they will have better lives than if only fed on empty calories
"a thing of beauty is a joy forever".
a thing of beauty nourishes the soul.

I was suckled on aethenadoris, aegisander and polydoris and weened on rodin and loredo taft

[tapit123]

An age old question.

Maybe you have heard that President JF Kennedy was a grand patron of the arts, and I think a couple of quotes from his speeches might be apropos here...
I look forward to an America which will not be afraid
of grace and beauty.
JFK 10/26/63

We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda;
it is a form of truth.
JFK 10/26/63

Also- when the WPA was formed to counteract the effects of the Depression, the government clearly expressed its belief in the value of art.

[evaldart]

A few years ago my wife bought a charcoal drawing, I do not know by who because the signature is not legible (antique store). It is a double portrait, apparently a father and daughter; a rugged-ish peasant and an adorable little girl. I thought it was okay but didn't care too much, too sentimental for a hammer swinger. A year or so later my daughter was born and I began to look at that picture more often. I have convinced myself, now, that with every passing day my daughter Lana and I resemble those charcoal smudges more and more (noting that thinning charcoal hairline with despair). Of course I have been reading into the piece and spend much time looking at it. It has become something powerfully special. I have attachments to other pieces of art we have either bought or traded -for but not like this. I would never get rid of it. This is a reaction to art that I would never have expected to experience. The world needs more pictures.

[anotherdreamer]

There are more books written than we could ever possibly read in a lifetime but does that mean writers stop writing? Has anyone ever complained there were too many flowers in the world and if they did would you really want to be around them?
Is it important? I don't know anyone that doesn't have some art in there home even if all they can afford is a print from Walmart.
When you ask about value I think of money. I don't care how much or little something costs, I feel the way I feel about it. Who cares how much it's worth or who thinks it's important if it makes you happy.

[rderr.com]

<<...of it. I do not see why it is important to make my art important.
__________________
Merlion

Art is the only absolute non-essential necessity.

R Derr
O R Der
A R Der

[weseye]

My arting is important:

Only to me, if only because it makes or made someone happy. The world is a terrible place and anything to help in our existence is important. I received this email today from a friend: “Thank you again for being so generous and giving me the aquarium. I just love it! Take care, Carolyn”

Keep Arting! Jeff (weseye) Wesley

[cmustard]

Anotherdreamer.....When I asked about value I meant it's worth to society...not monitary value.

I do agree with you though and have thought some of the same things myself. I believe Art in all forms is meaningful to those it is meaningful to. I personally think it has great value...I've just been caught up in someone else's negativity.

[GlennT]

Evaldart's beautiful post, #21 in this series, reminded me about the obvious answer to this question of the importance of our art.

Art is one of the best means we have in our quest to understand ourselves, our relation to others, to the world, to the universe, and to God.

Evaldart was moved when a work of art suddenly revealed to him an understanding of himself in a way that struck a profound note in his soul. In a way it was like holding up a mirror, but occurring in a way that a real mirror could not accomplish.

An artist who can stir a profound and insightful reaction that adds value and meaning to one's life is an artist whose work is important.

GlennT

[JamesW]

'An artist who can stir a profound and insightful reaction that adds value and meaning to one's life is an artist whose work is important' - GlennT - I think you pretty much nailed it there.
The only comment I would add is that our response to art varies over time and from person to person.
Is there a work of art that could universally 'stir a profound and insightful reaction' from all viewers?

James

[evaldart]

"profound and insightful reactions" provoked by anything are uncommon and should be valued. Though they might be caused by any brand of "elevated" experiece. Art and literature have the ability of affecting you over time, after you've let your guard down. This is why I schedule the occurence of epiphanies during museum visits (wouldnt want to be overcome by divine manifestation at the Taco Bell or while I was watching Spongebob).
I'm quite sure there is not one work of art (work of anything) that could affect universally. People are just too different; and there are too many of them.

[GlennT]

The stories of immigrants coming to America for the first time and seeing the Statue of Liberty in the last 140 years since its installation has evoked a somewhat universal positive and deeply moving response.

Also, works of architecture that are monumental and sculptural such as Stonehendge, the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx, Borubodor, Angkor Vat, etc. have also generated a profound response.

GlennT

[jOe~]

I once watched a woman have an hour long orgasm . She was in a Taos gallery buying an $8000 purple,peach,pink sunset painting. She climaxed when the gallery brought in the artist to meet her (he lived 20 minutes away). The womans husband was really moved too. He stood by like a gleaming voyeur. I always wondered who bought paintings that I disliked so much. All my years of studying art apparently have not served me well. I wonder how long the after glow lasted?

jOe~

[evaldart]

It could be worse, Joe. Imagine if you spent years stuying art but never actually made any.
Its important when you love to do it, its even more important if thats how you earn your living. "important" can mean more than one thing also. It may be of great urgency to fill that glaring gap in the living-room wall, personal taste will decide what goes there, money may or may not be an issue. "Important" might also mean 'of great historical pertinence'... That being decided by an academic bias.