Art

Tonight, I had an interesting exchange with several acquaintances on the fundamental nature of Art and I felt moved to write this. People always tell me Art is subjective, I think not. I have very concrete views on what is Art.

First of all, there seem to be an illusion that all forms of expression through a medium qualifies as Art. For example, any form of creative expression, be it through writing, acting, drawing, dancing, painting, designing etc, can be qualified as Art as long as it meets the criteria of (1) self expression. If we were to follow this logic, any form of self expression can henceforth be elevated to an Art form; such as my very deformed penguin drawings on DrawSomething are now on par with Picasso:

To ascertain if my penguins are work of art, I need only ask around: do others feel like it is a work of art? The answer will most likely be many many No-s, except for a few kind souls who might imagine my deformed penguins as cute. Juxtapose my very deformed penguins on DrawSomething with the exquisitely drawn paintings that garners tens of thousands of likes on DrawSomething, what is the difference? The difference is that those artists had skill and drew exceptionally well, capturing everyone's imagination and awe.

Thus, Expression itself is correlated but not causative to Art. Being able to express oneself does not automatically make that an art. Expression is one component of Art, and many people's perception get stuck there, believing any form of expression is equal to art. That is only half way there. Expression itself is a component of what Art is.

So if my deformed penguins are just expressions, then what is Art? Art would then be logically (1) expression + (2) skill.

Put simply: Artistry is the apex of any particular endeavor. Oftentimes, we hear, "He has elevated that to an artform." or "That is pure artistry." When someone says that, that is a compliment of the highest order to his craft and skill. We are moved by that person's ability as well as expression. Would anyone ever say "That dance is pure artistry!" when the dancer keeps tripping and making mistakes? He could be really crying emotionally, expressing himself on stage to the soulfulness of the music but he's out of rhythm and sync and his lines are all off. Can you bear to call that art? You would tell the dancer, "Hey you have potential, but please, go back practice some more."

Art is thus, achieved through the combination of expression and skills.

Let's take singing for example: without high level skills, singing could be just in the showers, infront of your PC's iTunes or at the KTV. Moving up the skill level, a singer might become competitive or friends/family really love to hear the singer sing at events. To be able to reach the level of singing, where the voice moves with emotions, telling a story, impacts the listener, bringing back past pains, sorrows, memories, joy and anger, that is Art. Have you not heard the difference between an awful teenybooper singer and a singer whose song brings back tears of breakups and heartaches? Are you willing to call Justin Bieber's songs, Art? No, it is merely an expression. Even those lyrics are skill-less.Think of a song that have moved you before and compare that.

If you sculpt, on the level of pure expression without skills, would probably be simply, a mould or whatever animal it is you are thinking of. Are those moulds art? No. They are simply an expression of your effort. Are they on their way to becoming art, yes! With skill and practice, they could be!

The great artists mould solid marble to look like soft velvet and flowing water, that is art and that is skillful expression!

If you draw, expression without skill would be akin to kids drawing, words painted on the floor/wall or deformed penguins. Progressing to the level where an artist can capture emotions, light, and details bringing the piece to life! To the point that the viewer is astonished with awe and inspiration! That is Art.

If you act, the first level of the expression of acting could be just high school skits. Moving on to dramas. Maybe the person becomes really really good, and with his acting skills, he made you believe in a character. He brought the character to life. That is the artistry of acting.That is expression plus skill.

So please, just because someone is expressing by drawing graffiti on the floor, that is not Art! That is just an expression. Until such time when said graffiti is accomplished by astonishing skill, we can safely elevate it to Art.

And...

Finally, one thing trumps Expression + Skill = Arts.

And that is...........

Reputation.

Once, you are a reputable artist, you can draw a circle on white and still sell it for millions. Once you have a reputation, you can get paid just for being you. But to get to being reputable, that requires.........Skill. ;)