art. . .what it's not

i asked my burikbutikan friends to write about what art is, so i can blog about it when they hold their solo exhibits here at the cafe des artes. and was i amazed by their answers! it was not merely defining the word, more on how they see and feel, as an artist.

but, won't it be easier to define art by what it isn't?
maybe. really. possibly.

so here's my take;

art isn't the thing i hang on the wall to match my sheets, or the dark wooden walls that surround my room, and the living room, and all the other rooms in my house.

art isn't the thing i hang on my wall, that i am sure my friends will approve of because they have a copy hanging on their walls.

art isn't and will never give me the feeling of being rich, but surely, enriched. bwahahaha!
and on that note, art isn't only for those that are filthy rich, even those on payroll can own art.

art isn't something i make because i think somebody will buy it, but merely because the process gives me joy and peace.

art isn't only the colours i put on canvass, or the buttons i thread to wear, it is its gift of connecting and involving me and the other.

i wish i had a list of inspirational quotes from great artists of the past regarding art. i can see they knew what it was, because of what they left behind: art.

and this makes me think of the time i saw van gogh's starry night at the art institute of chicago. (i love going to museums and galleries, whenever i travel). the place was packed with other people all trying to see the paintings as well. i was supposed to be polite, look at the painting, and move on. . .nope. i was rude and i stopped. . .for a long time, i stopped, because the painting required me to look at it for a long time. that's art. it makes my eyes not want to leave. it makes me not want to leave.

but realistically, it doesn't have to be starry night, to be art. even you or i can make something that is truly art. all it needs is to have a smidgeon of something that starry night has - it has to be interesting.

maybe it matches my sheets, too, that's ok. if it's interesting then i call it art. my eyes want to look because it's interesting, not because it matches my sheets. it is so interesting that i want to look at it all the time, maybe even sleep with it. bwahahaha! now, that's art.

artworks on my walls are all by OsacnaB