The Meaning of Art
3-1-15
To ask what art is good for is not exactly the same as asking what its purpose is. Art does not have to have a purpose - it does not exist in order to teach, to urge a moral point, to entertain, to distract, to amuse, to serve beauty, to support a revolution, to disgust, to challenge, to stimulate or to cheer; it exists for its own sake. It is the artist, not art as such, that may have an aim in mind, and his aim may be to do any of the things just listed. Artists make art because they have to. Applause is nice- but not necessary to call something art.
The word "art" does duty here for painting, music or theatre performance, and whatever else people are calling art these days. But the generalisation that art, whatever else it is, is always an end in itself, applies to them all. This can be shown as follows.
Art is a major form of response to the world. It is often an attempt to capture an aspect of the world, to comment on it, to present a surprising or fresh angle on it, to represent it for the sake of exploring something about it. We are celebrating the beauty of our world through artistic expression.
But art is a response not only to things in the world but to experience of the world, which lies inside the artist himself. And it is also often an expression of what presses from within the artist without being elicited by externals. Music is a prime example.
The impulse to make art, lies not in the message but in the way the artist chooses to convey their message. An interest in materials and techniques without any explicit content, as in abstract painting or contemporary dance, leads to a form of distinctively modern art that switches the focus of attention, as when people look at a frame rather than the picture within. It is still art, still an expression of a response to something within or without.
When artists get to work responding and expressing, whether or not they entertain you; they are producing something that will illicit a reaction. And that is what art is good for: that by its relationship with its audience it can make something move in the realm of thought and emotion, where such movement is life.
So, I raise the question to the floor... What do you think is the purpose of art? How can we invest in the arts to benefit our community and please elaborate on any ideas you might have for the future of the Hong Kong art scene. I'm most interested in hearing what you have to say.
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