Trying to create a definition for what constitutes as art is one of the most difficult tasks one can be given. Anything that is considered art must first have an imaginative or creative spark. Art is used to show your audience, whether it comprises of just yourself or even the entire world, what your emotions are and how you see the world. How a person choose to express this imagination is completely up to them and that is what can make one’s skill unique in comparison to another’s. Art isn’t always easy to recognize and at times it has to be indicated to its audience.
When first being introduced to the world of art, I was taught to look at places like the Brooklyn Museum, where various works have been put on display and have been formally recognized by the public as “art”. Attending such institutions has cultured us into a specific way of looking at art, when it is actually not that simple to make such a decision. Many of the displays at the Brooklyn Museum were historically based, such as the mummy tombs and the Renaissance paintings, which showed that one of the museum’s purposes for the displays was to educate the public about the various time periods. I have always been interested in finding who exactly got to decide what should be on display, who decided which pieces were important enough and considered so valuable, they had to be protected and viewed by generation after generation. This formal concept of art, which is what we view in most museums is based on what is considered a classic. What is mainstream and what is classic is not necessarily the same. For example, pop music maybe mainstream, but classical music is what is considered more intellectual and valuable to society. I believe that we cannot put a price tag to art. No one can be in charge of deciding whose art is more valuable: the man on the side walk who has always painted because that was his only way of expressing himself, or the one who has attended the biggest art institute in the country and has created connections with some of the most renown galleries in the country. An artist who has created a name for himself is lucky that his work will always be looked at as art, while others struggle to become noticed.
As I have grown older and allowed myself to really understand art, I have found that its definition is not so clear-cut. I have learned to value anything that uses one’s imagination and expresses it through whichever art form they can best relate to. If taking a bucket of paint and splashing it on a canvass helps its creator express some form of emotion or demonstrates their own inner struggle, then I will look at their work seriously and try to asses all the meaning behind it. All art serves a purpose whether it was created for the purpose of being viewed by an audience or not. It allowed its creator to bring the world inside his mind out and share it with the rest of the world.
We create art in our daily lives without even realizing it. From the way we decorated our high school lockers to the posters we put up in our bedroom walls. It is all a form of self-expression and a creative way for us to relay our emotions. No form of art should be overlooked, especially if hard work and passion were put into its creation.
