Yes, believe or not, but it was Oscar Wilde, one of the greatest play writers of all times, who actually declared that all art is useless. And I hate to admit this, much to the horror of my very many arty farty friends, but I really do agree with him.

I guess this is a huge insult to many people out there, art-lovers and art-workers and the whatevers. And I suppose too, that God Himself would be a little hurt by what I've just said. After all, He is the greatest artist of all time. The art of creation. Our world is His masterpiece.

Well, this is what I think anyway.

But tell me.. how useful can an art piece be? Sitting in a gallery for months and months. With no one coming to look at it. No one interested in buying it. What is it worth, anyway? How many artists out there actually earn a decent income from what they do? Why is it that some of these famous artists of the past have had such sad and depressing life stories? If art was of any useful-ness, then why was it all just so tragic?

To me, art has never really been practical.
And it isn't very logical either.
Sure, I find some art pieces rather intriguing.
And I have my favourites here and my preferences there.
But to be honest, I cannot see how it can ever create a catastrophe.

Art drives people crazy too, doesn't it? Audrey will probably know this too well. The hours spent slogging it out.. stirring up emotions. Yet, will it even produce the sort of results you want? As an artist, are you satisfied? And you ask yourself, at the end of the day, if it's all worth it.

But of course, you may argue against me.
Like Mom and Shana did the other day.

2 against 1.

Art is not useless. We need art. To express ourselves. Well, for some people anyway. People like you express ourselves through words. Would it then be true to say that all writings are useless? Of course not! Some people express themselves through art. In that way, how then can you possibly say that art is useless? Because it is important. Because it is wanted. Because it is loved.
Like how you love words. Like how you enjoy writing. People feel the same way about art.

The world is changing. People are getting more superficial, more impatient and well, let's face it.. there are going to be fewer readers around, compared to last century. We're a bunch of visual idiots, you see. We prefer to have our information fast. We find it more effective, more efficient and maybe even more appealing to sit down and evaluate an art piece for 5 minutes, compared to sitting down and reading a book for 5 days.

To get the message across.. clear and fast.. we need artists.

So with this in mind, could art really be the next big thing?

So is art really useless?

---

Okay.

Fine.

I lose.

I am narrow-minded and my thoughts are shallow.

But do you even get where I'm coming from?

Sure, you know, I like art. I really do. But I still don't see how it can be of any use to me. Art will always be some sort of a recreational tool to me. Like an interest. And I think it's good that it's kept that way. I just want to sit down and be able to enjoy staring at it for a while, losing myself in a spot of colour and thinking about how it really makes me feel.

That's all.

This has been a pretty useless post. And I'm not making much sense either.
Today, I'm feeling bitter towards art. Tomorrow, I may sing a different tune.
Well, who knows, eh? (:

Image: Stella Im Hultberg

Labels: art, ramblings

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 22, 2007 at 11:18 pm. You can skip to the end and leave a response.