What is Art?

Eons ago, deep within the Lascaux caves system in prehistoric France, early modern humans painted depictions of beasts they hunted in reverence, to honour the gift of food they require for their survival. These early humans ventured into the cavernous heart of the Earth, a dark sacred place, guided just by the flickering of their burning torchlight to look at these artworks to be inspired, to gather and pass down knowledge of the seasonal hunts. These cave drawings were not only there for their aesthetic representation, but communication vital for their survival. Of course, some of these early humans looked at these paintings and began to issue a series of grunts and growls in response to what was depicted. Translated into modern speech, this guttural uttering, the protolanguage of the cave dwellers would sound akin to ‘I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like’. I wager that primitive hairy bastard also invented the Beret as well…it was France, after all.

So…What is Art?

I guess it means different things to different people and simply cannot be defined neatly within a simple framework of understanding.

I suppose you could describe what Art means akin to ‘Faith’.  For some, they practice their faith all the time as they are on a pilgrimage to the promise land of milk and honey. Some only attend to their faith for a couple of hours on a Sunday. Some don’t openly practice but read scripture to fulfil their spiritual needs. Some preach to the converted. Some are fundamentalist zealots who believe that their brand of faith is the chosen one and denounce any other becoming gatekeepers of an exclusive doctrine and create a temple that few can entertain the notion of participating within. Yes, the art world does have its own Pastors and Popes, Pharaohs and Priests, Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses, all believing they are head of their own church.

As artists we are all practicing our own ‘faith’, and like any faith…to each their own.

As for me, what do I believe art is to me?

Let’s go back to the cave-people in France. They practiced their art as a form of communication, and that’s what I believe I do with my art. I want to communicate what’s inside me, what I am to the world and my response to whatever the world throws up to me. Yes, I communicate through action figures and photography my thoughts and beliefs, struggles and ailments both physical and mental. That is my language. Sure, like most languages foreign, mine can be hard to understand without a few clues…and there are clues, hints if you are prepared to look. Like English has evolved from German, French and Latin, which words can be understood no matter the dialect, my art has a smattering of common knowledge as well. I use the language of photography itself, black and white, grainy, blurry connotes old family photographs, memories, people and events long passed. There are dolls and action figures, some fictional from popular culture, some real and historical, there to jot the memory, introduce the familiar. I also use art history, poses and compositions from old master paintings/drawings/prints, so famous they are in the collective consciousness - hopefully to trigger a memory, creating a ‘hook’ within the viewer to connect with my art.

Art is my communication, my voice to the world. Sometimes it feels like I am being heard…other times, I feel like I am talking to myself. No matter what, I will still keep communicating – that is what art means to me.