What is Art?

Holy shit, I'm really going there...

Trust me, you get a lot of time to think about weird things like this when you have no one around, no money, and no car. True story. So if this turns out anything like I hope it will, get ready for quite a bit of philosophy...

This train of thought begins with somewhat of an identity crisis I've been having recently. In addition to the fact that I don't think I'm happy with my life as a homosexual (whole different story there, but worth mentioning in this context), I've been having real issues with my decision for higher education. Because I've examined myself, and I truly believe that what I desire is to create art, and I do not think I am capable of doing so to the extent that I would like.

Having made that statement, I don't want it to color the rest of my writing. I am happy with my talents as a musician, and the success I have achieved. But this is something different.

I consider myself to be not an artist, but an interpreter. Art, in my mind, is something you must create. I listen to my favorite music groups and realize that I would trade just about anything to have that level of creativity - my brief forays into composing and writing have been mostly fruitless, and painfully derivative of the things I already know. I am intelligent, and able to analyze everything I see, and hear, and take in, but my ingenuity stops there.

Besides my friends and family, I have only been able to find one aspect of life that I consider to be a source of support, and that is music. It is difficult for me to describe with any sense of scope the way I feel when I hear music I enjoy. Feelings of manic euphoria that make it impossible to keep from grinning, and moving to the rhythm. Unexpected eroticism that seems almost primal in its nature. Pyrotechnic bursts of color that seem to be exploding somewhere in my head. Rushes of emotion so intense that I find myself choking back tears for no other reason than the way one sound leads into another. I have often told friends that the only reason why I still use drugs is the way in which my perception of time is slowed down, so that I feel like I can listen for every tiny nuance that makes the music so important to me.

Based on my upbringing and genetics, it is not surprising to me that musical arts should be the form with which I identify most strongly. But I would imagine that the same would be the case for someone who was inclined more toward the visual arts or language arts (or any other - I thought those were the three most generalized descriptions of art forms).

But what is art?

What is it about what I hear that moves me in the way that it does? What is it about any piece of art that moves people in the way that it does? And more interestingly, what is it that causes us to react so completely differently to the same work?

I do not profess to appreciate every song, and every painting, and every photograph, and every novel, and sculpture, and play, and opera, and poem (the list goes on and on). I think that it is in our nature as human beings to judge that which does not speak to us. Consider, for instance, how quick we are to vehemently denounce a whole genre that we do not enjoy, and how offensive it can be when someone calls a favorite into question. I'm not saying it's something that (typically) breaks up a friendship, but think of the way you felt the last time someone said they thought your favorite book was trash, or your favorite band was terrible. It is almost as if it calls a portion of our being into question - as if someone is telling us that the things we feel or the facts in life that we are so certain of are incorrect. Conversely, what substance does a piece of art have if we do not feel anything when we see, hear or read it? Art is only worth what we make of it - the instant that someone says that they believe something is inspired, it becomes so, and as long as there is one person in the span of time who ever thought that, it should be impossible for anyone to ever strip it of that description.

I have a real issue with reviewers. I know that there definitely is a fine line between something that is well written and something that is not - and I think the artist knows it at the time as well, whether a masterpiece or not. However, what right does anyone have to say that they believe that a piece of art is "good" or "bad". Certainly, they can say if they like it or not, and reasons why, but who would dare to be so bold as to profess that they know better than the artist him or herself.

I believe that art is linked with the soul, for lack of a better term. The moments that we find beauty in are more than mere opinions based on our experiences. It is like a sixth sense, as tangible to us as the smells, and sights, and tastes we experience on a daily basis. It is something we know without question, but are unable to explain why.


I would make a request here for anyone who reads this to be slow to judge someone based on their artistic taste. As we proved here a few months ago, even the four of us, being best of friends, have startlingly different top ten artist lists (for music, that is). Remember that the same thing that speaks to your emotion so clearly speaks to others as well.