What is the Purpose of Art

I like to think of myself as a person who questions everything. Not out of any sort of rebellion or skepticism, although there may be some of that, but to try to understand the subject of the question as best as I can. What scares me is to take something for granted and then be wrong about it.

One of the things I don’t get is modern art. And if I don’t get something but deem it worthy of understanding, I try to expose myself to sufficient quantities of that thing in the hopes that I may finally come to understand it.

Just to be clear, I mean I don’t get abstract art. Of course, there’s art that has a message that asks the experiencer (I use this word because art can be auditory and tactile in addition to being visual) to consider things a certain way.

I thought I didn’t understand modern art, until now. I’m visiting Washington DC at the moment and I’m halfway through checking out the art exhibits at the Hirshhorn Museum. I’ve just finished gaping at art by Laurie Anderson. As soon as I experienced the first exhibit, I was like, I don’t get it.

I started to wonder what compelled Ms. Anderson to create such art, or more precisely, share her creation. Did she think that she was sharing something profound that others exposed to it will find it equally profound?

I can understand someone’s need to create something, anything that they feel moved to create, because that is what artists do. I like to think artists create art for the sake of creating art. That should be any artist’s first and foremost reason for creating. If the art has any meaning to anyone else besides the artist, that is a bonus. It is nice to be recognized for one’s creation but that should be the last thing on any artist’s mind.

If everything other than the act of creating art is superfluous, what is the point of sharing said art with the rest of the world? Let’s put aside vanity and the possibility that someone might be roped into giving you money for something of which they likely have absolute zero understanding.

Art by Mark Bradford

I think I finally get it. Whether it is conscious or not, most likely not, art is a challenge to the rest of humanity. It is a call to action, not towards some grand plan, but to create. It is a gigantic, unabashed, subversive, “I LOVE YOU” to our fellow humans.

When it comes down to it, creativity is the only thing humans are good for. In a perfect world where humans don’t have to work to survive, to fight for equity, to undo the environmental destruction wrought by us and our ancestors, what are humans to do? When all our basic needs are taken care of in perpetuity, what is there left to do? We create!

Art is the ultimate expression of optimism. It is an emphatic middle finger to the universe, a universe that has thrust upon us a meaningless existence. Art says to the world, become artists because there will come a day when we won’t have wars, hunger, disease, suffering, none of those things no one asked for but are obliged to reckon with, and when that day dawns, all you’ll be good for is all you’ve ever been good for all along, and that is to create.