COUNTER ARTS CHALLENGE

Art? It’s Life Affirming.

Trying to explain art in 16 simple paragraphs

What is the meaning of art?

Bloody hell, might as well ask me ‘How many salt granules are in the oceans?’ or ‘Where does the universe end?’ You won’t get much of a useful answer out of me.

But ‘What does art mean to me?’ — that I can at least have a crack at.

What is art?

It’s a cliché, but art is in the beholder’s eye.

Those 1200 pictures you took of your new baby today? Those are photographic works of art. The photos of some other cute infants that came with the picture frames? They’re just brats captured on digital canvas.

I’ve spent the past 2 weeks posting 6-words and photos of frozen food and white walls and calling it art so really…. What is art?

My laptop is an Apple. Some people think Steve Jobs was an artistic genius, blending functionality with craftsmanship. It is a beautiful machine, but I love it because I can use it to create 6-word frozen food art.

A child’s drawing stuck on the refrigerator is certainly as much art as some black canvas hanging, spotlit, in a museum. I hope Christopher Robin’s daughter’s art is on the fridge, held there by a “Virginia Beach 2021” magnet, because it is art. A moment in time, captured by innocence.

“Black Canvas: 1953–1955”.

I stared at this piece in a museum for 4 minutes once. Was it angst? Did the painter crush his own paint with sticks and rocks? How could a 6” x 6” painting of black take three years? Was there a modern day Mona Lisa underneath the darkness that he’d became increasingly unhappy with and, come the deadline, just said ‘Fuck it!’?

*Apologies to the artist whose name I don’t remember. Remembering the art is all that matters though, isn’t that right, sir?

I don’t have to go to a museum to see art. I could do that sitting right here on my laptop.

But going out, being amongst people,

walking the pavement and being part of the greater human good — that’s the connection and the true benefit of art. Listening to a song on Spotify is enjoyable, but it doesn’t replace hearing the song live in concert alongside 20,000 other singing fans.

Wandering amongst architecture, street art, or old-growth trees can match the joy and feeling of viewing a Rembrandt hanging in the Louvre.

And speaking of loo’s… watching a mate write his name in yellow on the ceiling after I don’t know how many drinks? That penmanship was goddamn artistic.

Bird guano as art

My partner and I have lovebirds in a large aviary (okay, cage) in the backyard. They make bedding nests out of dying leaves, feathers and guano and turn that combo into something comfortable and warm. Now that takes some artistic genius, don’t you think?

Art?

It’s life affirming. It challenges our minds, fills our hearts, touches our souls, inspires us and drives us to smiles, tears or anger. Art is all around us if we’re willing to look, listen, or feel.

If we’re indifferent to it? Meh, then it’s not our art. It’s art to someone else.

Thanks to Squeeze the Avocado, Christopher Robin, and Dave Logan for tagging me in this artistic prompt.

And further thanks to Squeeze the Avocado for creating this prompt which you can read and join in on here:

And now to my tags… Jennifer McDougall, Susan Foster, Susan Alison, Rodney Brazier, Anthony O'Dugan, Anne Bonfert, Mary DeVries, K. Barrett, Australian Alien, Carlos Garbiras, Lucy Dan 蛋小姐 (she/her/她) and any and all other artists who read this and are inspired to add their two cents.