WHAT IS THE POINT OF ART

When asked ‘what is the most valuable thing in life?’ some people will answer ‘family’, unless their wives aren’t listening then they may opt for something they actually value dearest such as alcohol or their x-box. Others will be more romantic and say love, and the highly annoying percentage of the population would be creative in their response and come out with ‘art’. Art? So if you were a lonely depressed old man with a coin sized hole in your heart and crippling debt you’d be fine so long as you had art. You can’t argue with these people though, or you’ll be stuck listening to how art is life, it is you, it is me and so on. You would be better taking the tip of their fountain point pen from their beige satchel and use it to pierce the skin across your neck. You would bleed to death before they’ve finished explaining every made up concept of ‘art’. But what is the point of art if its not for certain individuals to make you want to kill yourself?

Art is a form of expressing yourself. Different people have different perspectives and interpretations of art. Some people simply refuse to admit that art is a respected form at all and instead spend their lives irritating posh guests at fancy dinner parties by denying the beauty and purpose of art, while the tuxedo dressed host lowers his spectacles down the bridge of his nose, clears his throat and begins to debate the topic with the obnoxious chap.

However, every other normally functioning human being is able to express a genuine interest in art’s rich culture and history, and appreciate the wide variety of styles and the pure genius in its creation.

Art offers people both an escape from their reality and a deeper insight into other realities. It is something that can mean a totally different thing to anyone who observes it. That is of course if it is intended to be observed, music is considered a popular form of art that people can value by listening to it. That is because art can literally take on any form at all. The thing all art has in common is that it is inhaled by the consumer into their brain to be procrastinated over and explored before they exhale to release a sense of understanding.

Some people also manage to be considered ‘talented’ at creating art and they are able to make money off the back of this. Artists can be musicians or painters, fashion designers or decorators, even sculptures or ornament makers. These artists can make a fortune from selling their products to snobby art hoarders or enthusiastic art lovers. Other artists make little if any money at all but still chose to spend their days in their ‘studio’ (a bed sit above the corner shop with a broken toilet and a missing door handle on the front door) working on new art pieces that they know will cost them the last of their savings from working delivering pizza last summer.

In truth, art is whatever you choose to make of it. It can only be as worth much as someone is willing to invest. There are no written rules of what makes it ‘good’ or ‘bad’, no where is a book on how to enjoy art. Or at least not that I know off. It has been a constant through every event the world has seen, from cavemen carving in cave walls, to a singer releasing a new hit single last week. It has no regulations and no one has authority to tell others what to think about any of it.

Many people are sheep in a crowd and follow conventions of what is believed to be customary, and typically turn away from other things that mean more to them as individuals as it would not be accepted in society, such as the car they drive, or the words they use. This is a rule that the art industry has broken as every single person in the population is able to make their own decisions about what paintings or drawings they like or what kind of music they listen too without another person passing judgement. This allows for a diverse and wonderfully absurd world.

Characters that otherwise would have no common grounds can find themselves in awkward situations and then bring up to this varied topic and suddenly be marrying each other because they both have a deep lying love for Nickel Back. It would be one hell of an awkward reception but at least they are certain what song the bride is walking down the isle too, that’s all that really matters right?

In conclusion, art has no specific point. It can be the most valued part of living to certain cultures or it can simply be an aspect in living. It has no desired purpose or audience. Take it in and explore the endless possible meanings and messages behind each brush of paint, or pick apart the lyrics to understand the raw emotion of the song. It is what it is, and that’s what you make it. Try not to commit suicide at any dinner parties or college lectures over the illusion of the topic, but try instead to work on your understanding and views on the many forms of art and develop a deeper appreciation and passion for all it offers.

COMENTARY

The inspiration behind my opinion piece stemmed from my love of David Mitchel’s column writing. David has a unique style and a very personal tone to his writing that I wished too include in my own piece, he has a strong sense of his personality and it helps to create comedy making it easier to tackle the trickier subjects. It was from reading his article on the issue of Jeremy Clarkson not receiving a hot meal during his filming on the popular television show ‘top gear’ that I became aware that this was the style I wanted to incorporate into my own work.

In his article, he opens with a joke about terrorists and the problems regarding ‘ISIS’ this was an unusual way to begin an article and could have challenged the reader, however his use of words and jokes allowed the topic to be viewed light-heartedly. “I really envy everyone who’s certain that the best way of countering the threat of Islamist terrorism is definitely to bomb Isis. Equally I envy everyone who’s certain that the best way of doing that is definitely not to bomb Isis.” This is an example of how his sense of humor has come through to allow him to joke about topics that are serious without becoming considered rude or going too far.

An example of when I tried to include this kind of dark comedy into my own opinion piece is when I said “You would be better taking the tip of their fountain point pen from their beige satchel and use it to pierce the skin across your neck. You would bleed to death before they’ve finished explaining every made up concept of ‘art’.”. I joked about the seriousness of death and how the stereotypes of people can influence your judgement of them.

When receiving feedback on my opinion piece, the overall comments on the dark humour were positive, my readers seemed to enjoy the edgy tones and topics and didn’t feel I went too far. One reader said that the use of description to describe the stereotype of that category of the population was “effective and funny”. In general the feedback was good, although some commented that I could’ve spoken about the main topic of the article sooner which I the redrafted to attempt to improve.

Before I began to discuss art after a brief introduction to the world, which I decided to remove and have a snappier opening to draw in my readers and discuss art immediately. David Mitchel doesn’t introduce his topic until the second paragraph which works for him and his style, but I have learnt that for me beginning with a sentence related directly to my topic works better.