Yesterday I was in a car with four of my colleagues driving back to Boston. In the distance, we could see the sun reflecting off of the John Hancock tower and of course the recently installed mural toward the top of the tower. The mural appears to be a man standing on a dock and when the sun hits the glass windows just right, it gives the illusion that the glass is really shimmering ripples in water. With this came a conversation of art.
Now the question, what is art, is as old as art itself. Professors ask it, historians ask it, and apparently car fulls of college students ask it. One person in the car asked, “what’s the point of having that on the side of a building?” I started thinking to myself, does art really need to have a point?
Art is art. To me it doesn’t have a definition but I recognize it when I see or hear it. Art makes me feel, so I guess I know art is art because I feel it. But why make art? What’s the point, the purpose behind it? Art for art’s sake is my favorite art. Pieces, poems, pictures, abstract murals on tall towers, organic art that is created to make one think, to make one inspired, that is my favorite art.
As a student at a music college, my assignments are constantly centered around creating concrete art; following strict guidelines for songs, or structures for melodies. This of course serves the purpose of learning and growing as a musician, but it doesn’t always allow me to feel. However, I have a respect for those assignments because the art I create that allows me to feel wouldn’t be able to happen without them.
The point of art is to make art for art’s sake. It isn’t to fulfill deadlines or assignments, though sometimes those assignments can become hits (at least in the Berklee world). Art is healing. Art inspires. Art saves. Organic art that comes from a place of creativity, honesty and integrity can impact the world in ways nothing else can.
To me, the point of having that mural on the side of the John Hancock tower is to inspire me on the days that I don’t have time to make it to the docks on the esplanade, or encourage me when I feel like all I want is to be near water. That mural is there to bring light onto people’s lives.
So make your art for art’s sake. Be it music, poetry, film, or even athletics. Do things for the sake of doing them. Honor that their purpose is to improve life, and improve you. Create from the heart and create organically. Art is art, no matter how different, abstract or concrete it is. Allow your creativity to shine like the sun does on the John Hancock tower windows. Let your creativity give the illusions of shimmering water for others to be inspired by. Create yourself through art.
