Where does art come from?
Does the question matter, given the state of today’s world? Does this question affect divisiveness, racism and misogyny?
If we took a moment to reflect on the question, “Where does art come from?” would deeper truths prevail?
Depends on how deep you want to go.
When the outside world becomes too much to bear, I retreat into arts. Music, books, television, comedy, anything. The emotions that inspire these works are complex and uncertain. But the art itself makes these emotions understandable. It gives them form.
This is why I’m writing. Because we don’t often think about the answer to the question: Where does art come from?
What influences a musician to play their first key? What compels a musician to compose an entire song? How does a musician come up with that verse? Was that guitar solo a freestyle? Was this rhyme scheme intentional? Why do artists keep making music? What would make an artist stop?
Why do I do this?
And down the spiral I go.
Art Is Reflection
True art has to be born from something raw – an emotional cause and effect.
Art is a reflection of the human condition, as exemplified in Michelangelo’s humbling The Creation of Adam, John Steinbeck’s existential East of Eden, or the Fleetwood Mac’s ethereal “Landslide.”
Think about what kind of era William Shakespeare had to endure to craft a tale as brutal as Hamlet or depressing as Romeo and Juliet. How many sacrifices did Steve Jobs make to his social life and physical health to develop that technology in that phone of yours? What madness had descended up Kurt Cobain by the time Nirvana released In Utero?
So I ask again, but with proper grammar: From where does art come?
There are forces at work here – the limitless power to create something from nothing. The power to understand what it is to be a human being. But these forces have been neutralized.
Do the powerful and the wealthy care about what makes one pen a verse? About where one finds motivation and the resolve to endure and overcome economic and emotional hardship? Do they care about what really matters to people?
They do not.
Art is a state of being. Art tells us what we value, what we endure and who we become. Art should exist and be respected. Art should have a say.
Art Is This
Is it a song or a painting or a poem? Yes, but it can be so much more. Art can be a form of happiness and sadness. Art is political. Art is personal. Art contains the universe.
A sign raised high protesting policies that go against basic human rights. Donating time and money to help those in need. Two men or two women saying “I do.” This is art.
Disgust of a man of influence putting his fingers on any part of a woman he pleases. Shame of the unbridled bigotry that defines your country. Unease of how much can be undone in four years. This is where art comes from.
A cryptocurrency. A jet from Qatar. A bomb dropped in the Middle East. This is not art.
Fear of men who don white sheets and wave confederate flags. Rage at masked vigilantes taking American citizens away from their homes. Relief when some of these citizens are set free. This is where art comes from.
A boat on the way to feed starving children. A dream that all men are created equal. The Constitution of the United State of America. This is art.
Pain of witnessing your mother hold her husband’s hand as he breathes his last breath. Elation of feeling your little boy’s kick through your wife’s stomach for the first time. Reconciliation that with death also comes life. This is where art comes from.
Standing up for what you believe in. Living with basic human decency. Telling someone “I love you.” That, my friends, is art.