As a collective we all seek some form of art. We crave creation and perceived originality. Artists are held to a certain standard, expected to be raw while catering to the mainstream market. The starving artist stereotype is losing traction, the romance of the idea fading. Now its not enough to just be an artist. It’s not enough to make art. You have to make art people want. Your art has to reflect only the parts of you other people want to see. It’s begun to lose its subjectivity, and grows more of a commodity by the day. We’ve taken it upon ourselves to criticize art we could never replicate based on our own personal biases, instead of viewing it from both the technical perspective and the perspective of the maker. Art is not made for us. It’s not made for the general populace to feel better. It’s made as a mirror into the lives of the artists themselves. Art isn’t about us. It’s about the artist.

I think the first question is, who defines art? The wonderful thing about it is, in its most genuine form, no one can define art. Art simply is. It exists wherever you choose to see it. Art is inherent, existing wherever we desire it. And I don’t mean that in a “find the silver lining” way, I mean it in the way that human existence creates art wherever it goes. But that means art isn’t always pretty. It’s rough and gritty in ways we rarely want to confront. And the same goes for artists. We largely expect classic artists to be self assured, but reserved. We expect artists to be quiet, work on their craft, put it out, and take what they get. But that’s not real. Art reflects life. Art reflects humanity. And humanity is loud, it’s unpleasant, and its bold. Humanity isn’t just sitting by the window painting a dreamy countryside. Its photographs of the devastation left by bombs. Its scrawled paint strokes and broken sculptures. Its both precise and purely emotional. Its as perfect as an editorial campaign and as wonderfully flawed as a passport photo. There is no such thing as wrong art. There is no such thing as old art. Art was not created to be sold. We’ve simply turned it into something worth selling. But we should be less concerned about making art worth selling and more concerned about making a market worth selling in.

I dont think its worth wasting time on more criticism of social media or the culture it creates. However I do think it’s worth analyzing the way we engage with art. In such an individualistic culture, its not enough for art to just be art. We see it as if it has to be created for us. We consume as if art must be made as a mirror into our own lives instead of something that helps us see ourselves in other people. I suppose the more you focus on yourself the harder it is to consume true art. I think about this in the lens of fashion. I have my own personal style. It excludes many aesthetics from my own closet, but i do my best to be as objective as possible in my analysis. For example: I would never wear a maxi cargo skirt. It’s just not my style. However, I can view it from a more overarching perspective. Is it long term? Is it a micro trend? Even though I wouldn’t wear it could I see someone else wearing it? Just because fashion is a form of self expression doesn’t mean its always about your own personal expression. Being able to see the vision and the intention behind someone else’s choice of clothing is a critical part of fashion that is often overlooked. Just because I dont like something doesn’t mean it won’t sell. I care less about what the market wants and more about what a person would want. Everything is niche until it’s not. Everything starts out as an old trend that died out or a part of a small community not many people know about. But everything has the potential to fall back into favor and become mainstream again. So while I may not understand it now, someone else will. I may not see myself in it, but someone else could. Its not solely about us. It’s not about the consumer. Art is the tether between the artist and the viewer, the tie that binds the creators mind to the outside world.

I can’t say i’m always in the space to consciously receive other people’s art. But that does mean I have to find the beauty in my own. So even those of us who believe we aren’t artists and we could never be artists must come to terms with the fact that even the most left-brained of us create art. Any creation at all is art so long as it is a reflection of our own mind. Difficult to absorb or not, art is art. Easy to digest or not, art will be all that it is no matter the circumstances. Our opinions can’t change that. And for those who think that their opinions dictate the creation of art, I say this: Maybe other people’s art isn’t for you.