Looking over the schedule for the Arts Day during and prior to my attendance, I began to wonder why the whole event was considered to be a day for the arts. I guess if you viewed an interview of a best-selling author about his views on art as an artistic performance, you’d say that the name perfectly fits the occasion. However, that’s not the case for me. Such a title to me would imply either the celebration of art, or exposure to engaging art pieces, or a combination of both. Arts day was neither, but of course that claim is debatable depending on one’s tastes and definitions.
For me, art is a representation of one’s creativity and thought. Art is also a medium that expresses feelings on a grand scale. Musical art for example, can pierce through people’s emotions, eliciting feelings of anger, happiness, sadness, bewilderment, and pretty much any emotion you can think of purely through auditory means. If any piece of work, intended or not, can bring forth emotions from anyone, then it can be art. However, since the dawn of time, everyone’s had their own opinion as to what anything is, and I respect that. Ergo, we will all agree or disagree on whether certain things are artistic or not.
I didn’t expect much of the arts day. To be perfectly honest, I dreaded having to stay for the interview, not because I thought it would be boring- okay maybe just a little- but because it was getting late and I actually haven’t finished reading the book that was to be discussed. Despite my feelings, I stayed- unlike others who i caught sneaking away- and much to my surprise, I found the interview to be quite entertaining. A large part of my surprise was due to the whole interview turning into a one sided discussion, on Jonathan Safran Foer’s part, about his “interesting” views on technology, writing, being an author in New York, and his rise to fame. The interviewee seemed stunned, hearing answers he didn’t really expect, and finding himself getting questioned instead. I found this to be quite humorous. However, on an artistic level, this “performance” had very little artistic value, unless of course it was planned. In that case I’d treat this piece as an artistically humorous play, but I’ll safely assume that this was not the case.
Aside from the humor I found, I thought the content had substance. Despite Jonathan Safran Foer sounding like a self-centered, pompous writer, much of what he said provided insight into not only his character, but particular views as well. He discussed his idea of art, how reading is changed by the advent of new technology, and an interesting view on writing that caught my attention. Foer expressed that he never outlines or plans his works, rather he just writes to expose feelings he couldn’t really express. I found myself agreeing with his view of writing as it appealed to my mindset. I’m not the type to really outline or plan heavily, most of my actions are, as one could call it, gut feelings. Then I realized that this guy is a best selling author, with multiple acclaimed novels. How is that even possible? I mean then one could argue that with my mindset, how I could ever achieve success, but I have my boundaries. I plan out big projects, and important papers. There’s no way that someone can handle such large tasks without much planning, save a few rare occasions. I could believe he’s either an insanely talented writer gifted by the gods, or that he’s just lying to us, and I’d be talking for most of the crowd by selecting the latter. Not many people become world renown best sellers by just looking at a paper and scribbling away without much thought. Perhaps his feelings are just that powerful. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be able to tell.
Overall, I had a great experience. I enjoyed the company of many of my peers and made some great friends. The interview went better than I expected and I enjoyed listening to Foer’s responses. However I just think a little more art could be involved in a day titled “Arts Day.”
