Why is Art so hard?

You say, to your audience, here I am. 

Here is my art. I hope you enjoy – I’ve been working hard on it.  

 

There’s no true way to predict how our audience will react, because we are blind to their expectations just as they are blind to the sweat and tears that went into our art. 5 minutes onstage, one painting on the wall, can represent 50 hours or more. But up to that point, it took us the proverbial 10,000 hours to hone our craft.  

 

Art is bravery. When we embrace someone’s art, we embrace their ideas and their spirit. We acknowledge that they shared with us the product of their skills and knowledge, and we give thanks for their sharing. We do not jeer, we do not denigrate. We support and we lift because we know how much courage it takes to create and show other people our art. 

 

Art is vulnerability. 

 

Art is interaction between humans. It is an exchange of not just ideas but expression. Sometimes we are the vessel for ideas that have been created before — Shakespeare, Beethoven, a study of Frida. At other times, the art we present is an original offering that we alone brought into fruition. Without Newton, humanity would have eventually divined the formula to calculate 9.8 meters per second per second. If Edward Hopper had never lived we may have never seen Nighthawks. If Shakespeare  had never lived we would have never experienced two star crossed lovers from fair Verona. Each time we sing, play, draw, dance, recite, create, a new experience is created for the first time. 

 

Art opens a window into another world. When we attend a Broadway show, we immerse our attention – our minds, our eyes, our ears, into a far-off land. Just as Titanic transported us onboard a roaring 20s vessel across the Atlantic, Carmen pulls us into 19th century Spain. Not every window is fantasy. Sometimes the window opened by art is an invitation to feel the joy or pain of the artist. 

 

All art has worth. Some art explores the heart of humanity herself; others celebrate  values such as patriotism or kindness, or resisting against oppression.  Art can be enjoyed and it can provoke. When viewing, listening to, and experiencing it, we can choose to hate it or treasure it.  Just as not all ideas will resonate with all other humans, not all art will resonate with other humans.  Not everyone connects with Metallica, Tupac, Duke Ellington, or Debussy. Not everyone understands the appeal of Mona Lisa or Sunday in the Park or Water Lilies or The Scream. And that’s okay. That is good. Art is for everyone but it isn’t for everyone. When sharing art there is always the possibility that people don’t like it. This does not diminish the worth that the art has – though it may impact its gallery appeal. People have the freedom to censure art just as artists have the freedom to create it to serve a whichever purpose they choose. 

 

People who art understand how messy, awkward, broken, ugly, and off-key it can be. Art must be bad before it can be good. The first step to walking is trying and falling. The first step at creating an inspiring piece of art is sucking.  There is no shortcut to greatness just as there’s no way to fast track a marathon. Art demands patience and humility. If our art had eyes, then it has seen us at our worst and at our best.  In many ways, Art knows us like no one ever will. 

Matthew Lee is the NJACDA High School R&R Chair and teaches at J.P. Stevens High School in Edison NJ.