Some critics may say 'art' is nothing more than unusable, i.e. it has no utilitarian purpose other than hang on a wall or collect dust on a shelf. That attitude won't attract too many adherents as there seems to be something within we hu'mans that not only appreciate anything we find 'art' to be but are willing to collect it... save it from the trash heap... behold it, admire it, feel its vibes... art is a powerful source of imagination and in turn desire. Art can be beauty and who amongst us does not at least have some appreciation of beauty? Art can instill the imagination with creativity, like seeing an object or painting then wanting to create something ourselves. This is akin to lighting our own candle from the flame of creativity.. passing the torch of imagination.
Art as architecture has been a jaw dropper for me on several occasions... something about the shape and shadows they cast... about the space(s) they create... the materials used in the construction... all these can make a structure more than it's pieces. The great Cathedrals of the world inspire a sense of godliness in people... same with the Temples throughout the world... inspirational structures that cause one to stop and admire. Even some art museums are magnificent structures inspirational enough to cause people to wonder what is within their walls?
Art is a food for people's souls. There are as many arts and artists as there are meals and cooks in the world. Even the art of cooking is currently held in high esteem like never before. Art is recognized in brewing beer or making wine... even the old 'moonshine' is getting its recognition as an art form.
Arguably, the cinema, i.e. movies are the high art of hu'mans. The making of movies encompasses all art forms, from the initial writing of a script to cinematography, from acting to costumes, from make-up artists to directors and so much more (look at the credits after a movie's ending). Hundreds of people are needed to make movies... many of them, if not most, dedicated to the art of the movie.
Design has reached out throughout the world in recent years on a scale never before recognized. Design is in everything from forks and knives to coffee makers, from hand-held electronic devices to televisions, automobiles and planes show the importance of design to our modern world... a look at the design ideas of Steve Jobs and his computers, I-Phones and I-Pads show design principles that have made them highly desirable (no mention of China on this please! ).
Design has become a vitally important ingredient for the 21st Century building off many wonderful designs of the 20th Century and before. SooZen and I are on the local arts & crafts circuit ('tent show gypsies', as SooZ has named us and those who are on the circuit) do most of our sales in jewelry... mostly beaded jewelry. I bring this up because here in the 21st, there is another Renaissance going on in the world of beads.
The first known bead dates to 80,000 b.c.. Beads have historically been used for prayers, protection, adornment and even money (Colonial days in America with the Native population, for example). The world of beads has grown into so many varieties and types that it is both a wondrous experience for the bead artist but also difficult to choose between so many on the market today. Clay, glass, stones, metals from precious metals to simple metals, bone and shell, plastics and even rubber. Beaders and bead makers are carrying on an ancient tradition.
The huge populations we have all over the world brings with them new ideas, new arts, new visions, new concepts that we are still trying to digest. Would anyone of us imagined just 20 years ago a China that we see today with nearly every big city rich with skyscrapers of the most modern designs..? Cities across our globe are bursting at their seams with hu'manity doubling more often than tradition can cope with. New way of living within this New Age, the early years of the 21st Century, is mind-boggling when we recognize the tremendous variety of peoples there are amongst us with their clothing, their foods, their shelters along with their ideas and dreams of their futures. Add to that the ability to travel to all these countries and even live in different cities across the globe where we can live among different cultures easier than any other time in our history. Ex-pats from most any country can be found in most any country.
The 21st Century has a great deal to adjust to. We can no longer be content with what was achieved in the 20th Century (and it was tremendously rich with innovations and inventions...). A radical adjust is manifesting itself with our without you and I or them or those. I like the two word motto used on a cable channel I often watch : Lean Forward. Not to the left or right, not backwards but FORWARD. In those two words says what is necessary for all of us in this new time. If we veer from going forward, even is it is not fully clear, it is necessary to bring us together, collectively, in order to maintain a level of peace and civility amongst the 7 Billion of us. If we fail at doing so... I'd rather not imagine....
cecil
1.29.12
Picture of the Week:
Are the Odds
against us as we
Lean Forward
into the new?
Trust! my friends
The Wizard within
and allow the
Silence to
calm the worries
of an unknown
yet revealed
...