There are a lot of things in our society that we readily accept. We accept our phones quickly and easily, handheld communication that can retrieve much of the information on Earth. We accept space travel as normal, if revolutionary, and we wonder about the existence of exoplanets with life unlike ours. We accept the constant entertainment we are bombarded with from day to day, such as the content found on social media. Most of us accept that we evolved into the form we are in today, that “humans” weren’t always a concept. All of these are cultural phenomenons that we don’t spend much time questioning. We grow settled in our lives.
One cultural phenomenon that I find particularly intriguing is art. As humans, many of us have an instinctual need or want to create: to bring something new into the world. Art takes on many, many forms – from painting to sculpture to poetry. However, the idea of “art” can be somewhat difficult to define. Oxford Languages defines it as “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” While this is not an incorrect definition, I find it a little lacking. I believe that art is far more all-encompassing than we might initially think.
While art is not a concept that only humans can grasp, something about creativity feels very human. Especially in our technological age, I believe that art can be a return to our older roots. Human art has been around for around 50,000 years, starting with handprints on rough cave walls in the Paleolithic Era. Many of the oldest civilizations had some form of art. The Indus Valley civilization, which was polytheistic, had small fertility charms that depicted their gods. In ancient India, the Rig Veda was a large part of the civilization’s core beliefs. It was a series of sacred texts that were written as hymns. In Egypt, the pyramids were painstakingly built. The Maya would play a ball game that mirrored the movement of the sun’s motion across the sky, as well as potentially representing a more literal game of life and death. The Greeks had their Parthenon (temple), and in their earlier days, shrines and altars. The Greeks also held their well-known Olympic Games, which were a pagan festival that involved different forms of physical competition. While these examples all tie into religion in some format, there are plenty of examples that do not. In ancient Egypt, the nobles used to enjoy dice games and hunting, and in many cultures, pottery was a common art form.
What does this all tell us? Why does it matter that we create art?
I believe that creating art gives many people a sense of purpose. It means that we have left our mark on the world, that we have created something meaningful or beautiful. When you are walking through the city, do you stop and take note of the architecture? An artist designed that. When you step into a coffee shop, do you pay attention to the interior design? Do you look at the paintings on the walls? Do you still visit art galleries, even though they fall out of popularity? Do you stop to wonder about the design of the T-shirt you are wearing? Do you see someone well-dressed on the street and think about how long it took them to assemble all the individual pieces? How long did it take them to shower and fix their hair? How long did it take them to put all the pieces together? While the definition of art I gave earlier isn’t wrong, do you agree that it feels a little less all-encompassing than what “art” really is?
In this modern technological age, we can forget about art. Perhaps you have now remembered that art is all around us, seeping gently into every part of our lives. When you decorate your room with posters, that is art. When you doodle in the corner of your homework, that is art. Art can easily become forgotten or deemed unimportant, yet it controls a large portion of our lives. It could be argued that the universe is art created by a god, or perhaps that religion itself is art. It could be argued that language is art – we did, in fact, take time to create it and still shape it today. Every new trendy word, such as “rizz” or “aura,” is also art, whether you find it pleasing or not.
As I write this piece, I am listening to an album by The 1975. I am dressed in a nice outfit that I took time to put together. My room is decorated in a way that makes me happy to step into it. Next to me is my music stand with sheet music and across from me is a bookshelf packed with books. I am entirely surrounded by art. Without art, life might not be worth living. It would be dull, empty and utterly nondescript. There would be nothing to talk about, dream about, or wonder about if nothing were created. Perhaps the next time you’re walking around, music in your earbuds and a nice hoodie on, you will pay more attention to how much effort is placed into so much of what you see.
