Why? Because they believe in Art.
Art isn’t in the best position within the playing field of vocations. We all ingest it daily through books, magazines, movies, televisions, Spotify, concerts, comic books, video games – yes, video games-, architecture, interior design, signs, ads, galleries, museums, a children’s drawing or a birthday card. If you’re alive you’ve seen, felt, heard, or maybe even smelled art.
But no matter how much we are surrounded by Art, many people will tell you, “ Don’t pursue it – do it as a hobby, get a real job. Making money through art is too hard, too complicated.” They understand it as a hobby, and maybe don’t see anything beyond that. But if they happen to be courageous enough to ask you, “Why is art important?” I’m pretty sure they’re going to go down some windy philosophical, spiritual, emotional, freaky alley with you. And they’ll never really find an answer. The answer will change depending on the artist.
For some, art doesn’t matter; for others it’s their life and work. Some try and blend in with the “elite” and pretend that art is valuable even if they don’t understand any of it, while others understand the various symbols, and effects of the medium. For some, the answer for art is on emotion, while for others, it is on the intellect. Some see it as a means to move the masses, while others see it as a tool to keep the status quo. Some emphasize ideas, others emphasize narrative, and still others on the sensorial experience.
For me, the trick, no matter which medium or piece of art you’re engaging with, is to think of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” When the emperor in this fairytale comes out with his “new clothes,” everyone believes he’s actually wearing clothes until a child points out, “But he’s not wearing any clothes!” You have two choices when faced by art: you either believe in it, or you don’t. And it only works when you do.
When a dad tells his daughter about a galaxy far away, or a Neverland, or a land beyond the Wardrobe and a single lamp post in the middle of the forest, she believes it. She’s transported to a land of great possibilities, mysteries and sufferings. The same happens when we watch movies, read books, go to a museum, or gallery—we’re impacted as much as we let ourselves be. The so called “suspension of disbelief”, or seeing the emperor’s new clothes even if they’re not there. I don’t think the point of this is to define great art. I just want to talk about you believing in art.
When we let ourselves be carried away by the feelings of art, we grow, we dissolve, we disappear. We’ve lost ourselves, and that’s what is so great about it. The human condition is to always be stuck with yourself. There’s no way out of you. Yet, through art, there’s a glimpse: a tiny hope of losing yourself. Lose yourself by embracing the Other. Lose yourself, become a child again – vulnerable, by just believing.
Art will never work the same way for my grandpa as it does for me. He’ll never experience the jolly happiness of the Hobbit’s Shire, the despair of The Scream from Edvard Munch, the energy that pierces through when I listen to indie-electronic music, or the heart-wrenching honesty of a Van Gogh masterpiece. But that’s all right—he doesn’t believe in it. He can be the one pointing out the emperor is naked. I’ll just keep on seeing those nice-good-looking-sweet-awesome-sauce clothes. Sometimes letting yourself be fooled is the only way to regain sight.
If I’m honest, not everyone has to enjoy art. I just hope that it’s not only my parents that believe in me. That believe in Art. I just hope, that at least someone out there enjoys it like I do. After all, art was made to connect others— like a fabric stretching out across the universe.
Me to You. You to me.
James Andrew C. Gilbert
Staff Member