Art gave me gifts only death could take away, and even that's questionable. I wish I could define art for you in one prismatic word, but it's an enigma like magick once was; like love still appears to be. Art and I go way back to early childhood when I was SOOOOO boooored with life I didn't know what to do with myself. My creativity is, in part, attributed to my childhood ennui.
When I needed to express things that I couldn't find the words to say, art helped me say them. When I didn't speak English, art helped me communicate with my friends until I learned to speak their language(s). Funny enough, first they knew mine. This was a paramount time period because this is when I learned to communicate through art, and why later art became such a strong language for me. This process started at a young age and grew with me all those years. There's something special that can be discovered in the longevity of relationships. It's as difficult to define as art itself, lol!
There's an immense beauty in the crypticism of art that makes me feel connected to ancient civilizations and their symbolism. Their ciphers could be distinguished, in part, through understanding art's processes. Art simultaneously protects me and frees me... it's hard and soft, fast and slow, heavy and light... There's a fluidity that it possesses which allows it to be one or the other or both at once. Art is like water. There's a kind of magic in its dualities that's both concrete and ethereal. It can be, and is, many things at once, and like water, art takes the shape of its container. I love its play with balance! I think Calder would agree with me.
Art can be demanding. It entails the need for, sometimes too much, hard work. However, in return, it gives insurmountable knowledge and experience so it's certainly a price worth paying, imho! Art is a life-mirror and I adore its reflection. It happens to be my preferred language because I really dig its speed! It's like driving a Bugatti Veyron. Not that I know what it's actually like to drive one (although I'd fucking love to!), but in my mind it's comparable.
Processing imagery is 60,000 times faster than processing text and I'm a cosmic fan of the practicality and efficiency of that because it gifts time. Speeeed! I'm almost certain art gives me an endorphin rush. There's a specific vibration associated with attaining moments of perfection in artistic composition and balance, etc. It's like that moment when you nail any live performance, beit dance, theater, music... the perfect hug around the bend. I know them all and that's how I know they're the same. It's winning an athletic competition. It's miraculously catching the cup that fell off the counter. It's that slice of antigravity when the seesaw is perfectly balanced and two individuals have managed to cooperate with egos brushed aside. Have you ever felt that perfect note resonate within you? I think if you can't see perfection, it's not because it isn't there so much as you've simply chosen not to see it.
Art lets me touch all the seemingly untouchable spaces in the universe. It connects me to the invisible things, and if you ask me, I think they're the most valuable. Balance, truth, love, empathy, silence, subconsciousness, freedom ... you get the point. Art opened my mind, and in doing so, changed everything! Some people have called me obsessed with art, but those fuckers were really confused about the nuances between passion and obsession since they were relatively passionless, but peculiarly obsessive now that I think about it. Projection. Funny. I'm passionate as fuck about art! I'm kinda the same way in all aspects of my life, though.
My kid looked at me one day and said, "You're a lot." What's a lot? He motioned to the entirety of me and said, "This. You. Your energy. Everything about you is just a lot." Is that a bad thing? "No, it's amazing, but it's still A LOT. It's intense." He's not the first to have said that to me. Ironically, the reason I get it now is because of him, lol! I never understood it before until one day when he was just a lot and I thought, "Ooooohhhh." I see now that we vibe at different frequencies. I've really tried to tone that down over many years because some people were really uncomfortable with it. So, instead of continuing on the path of slowly and excruciatingly killing myself for their comfort, I left those people. Because art taught me how to edit ;) Although, I wish I'd learned it a bit sooner. I would have preferred the extra time.
Anyway, my art moves as I do. "If you wanna get there fast, go alone." I want to experience certain things in this life, and in order to do that, speed matters because where I'm going so sooo freakin' distant from what I think most people ever want to know. Vision, right? At first, I was afraid. I was petrified. (See what I did there?) But then I realized there was really nothing to fear. Others had been here before (in an explorative boat, I mean). Granted some of them were thought to be crazy, but I'm willing to take that risk. Now, I get Icarus got screwed for flying a tad too close to the sun, buuuut... K-nowledge. Is it worth the risk of ridicule? Uuuum... Yeah. As if I haven't embarrassed myself enough this go around, though, lol!
What I learn from this life is all I can take with me to the next, wherever that may be. I have theories. Elevation is about that. (April 2021 at M Galleries.) Ultimately, art taught me how to think and who I am at the core of my being; who we are at the core of humanity. Art is understanding. =Life. =Perfection. =Truth. Art is the Swiss Army Knife of information and utility. Art is invaluable to humanity! It's a tool that can be utilized to transcend unthinkable boundaries, to teach life (not just how to survive) and awareness, etc. However, you don't give a newb access to the table saw. That fucker would kill himself by accident in the first 30 seconds! It's a climb, as it should be. The more time you devote to understanding the mechanics of the tool at the beginning, the more control you'll have of that tool later. It's the difference between a good tattoo artist and a great tattoo artist. However, it all remains a choice. You can drive a Fiesta, or you could drive a Veyron. Choose. Limited mind or unlimited mind. Choose.
Art gave me what I wanted, but mostly what I needed. Ultimately, I love the fuck out of it because art equates to freedom! It gives me peace. It lets me be. Also, I'm a fan of fun and if nothing else, this has been a wild ride! Remember, booooring childhood? I kinda design my life around fun. I weave my art through it, or maybe vice versa. You'll see... The Collector's Game is projected for release in Autumn 2021. Some of y'all are bored as fuuuuck! I know that dingy place. Let's change that, shall we?
There are truly a million more reasons I love art, but how long do you really wanna read about it? If you're a fellow art lover, share your reasons in the comments. What do you love most about art?
Wishing you all a healthy, exhilarating, and enlightening new year!!!
Thanks for reading! See you in 2021 :D
