All semester, we've been talking about this ever pervasive question - What is ART? And although the book "Art and Soul" doesn't exactly answer the question direction or succinctly, we gained a better understanding of art and the meaning of its presence in our lives through reading and discussing this book.
One of my favorite things to describe art is that it is not to be analyzed, it's just to BE. Too often, we feel it's necessary to have answers to describe things and be absolutely right, instead of just leaving room and opportunity for different kinds of interpretation. Art is one of those things! It doesn't have to have a deeper meaning, but it could, it's just to be what it is and nothing more, nothing less. To me, that really gives the audience of art a lot of freedom to decide what the art means to them. No rules, just your own feelings that art invokes.
Another thing I loved was that art shouldn't give the meaning away right off the bat - it's kind of like the old phrase "playing hard to get". So true!!! Art, like women, should always be a little mysterious - it we knew all there was to know right away, we'd get bored!! Such truth, I just love it!
Finally, the last thing that stuck out to me was that the world is not black and white, neither is art. That is something I have learned so much in the past few years - things are not always YES or NO, BLACK or WHITE. There is a middle ground, a grey area that is undeniable. It is sort of comforting to know that this is a universal thought (or at least present in one book we read!). What a refreshing thing to be reassured of.
No comments:
Post a Comment