Forget Art
2004-05-03 - 12:54 a.m.

Forget art, and all of its arbitrary constraints. Forget those who hold art to their own personalized view of beauty, judging something as worthy of being seen only if it pleases them to see it. Ignore those who, through their knowledge, have become jaded, and have forgotten that the most vital element in art is not talent so much as it is emotion, and the ability to cause others to share that emotion vicariously.

Art is not catharsis. Catharsis can produce art, but any fool can throw paint at the wall and create a mess. Any talentless hack can cover a canvas with random splotches of color, but an artist covers the canvas with splotches of his rage, and even the casual viewer can see that it’s so.

Oscar Wilde said that all art is worthless, and he was quite right. Art is good for nothing. It has no intrinsic value, except to the extent that we see ourselves in it, and we see elements of the art in ourselves.

It is expression, and nothing else. The man who creates for the public is a whore; the man who creates only for himself is a selfish recluse. Art is most art when it is shared and appreciated, but it is least art when it is pandering or selfish. It is most valuable when it has no value at all, save for the ability of one man to paint a picture of a subject he has never met, so that when the subject sees it, he is able to recognize himself.

Paint a portrait, and the world will recognize the subject; paint a feeling, and the world will recognize itself.