Art. Beauty. Transcendence.
What really matters
Artistic expression is something that has always been at the core of humanity: from the early markings and drawings on the walls of caves to entire 3- dimensional universes constructed with the help of the magic that is technology. The way we showcase these fragments of our mind depends on which of the senses we wish to appeal to. Music has an allure to one while paintings to another. For some, even the texture of closely knit carbon fibre strands stands out as a masterpiece. Cooking too is an art form which inculcates both scintillating aromas and heartwarming flavors into one delicious package.
There are two things common to all of these; the artist and the audience. Some truly magnificent pieces go unnoticed in the world simply because the artist decided to limit the audience to himself/herself. Perhaps even believing that his/her art wasn’t 'good enough' for appreciation. While there are indeed such cases, most of the time the mutual search of the artist and the audience for each other can be compared to that of the search for one’s soulmate. Every artist is unique and has his/her own different ways of expression. So do the tastes of each audience member vary. This almost romantic lifelong search; to appreciate art and to create it, is something that goes beyond all boundaries of geography, caste, colour and sex. Sometimes though, the artist and the audience never really find each other until it is too late. A perfect example would be Vincent Van Gogh, one of the most renowned Dutch painters who lead a life of depression and eventually committed suicide. Ironically over 2000 pieces of his art were only brought into the spotlight much later and took him to high acclaim posthumously.
As tragic as the situation of artists not receiving the appreciation they deserve can be, we see that the art they created continues to live on and make an impact in the lives of several generations of audiences. In fact, the way things such as logos, fonts, lighting, costumes etc. are designed can have a fundamental change in the perception of the entities they relate to. In the world of design there’s been a shift from skeuomorphism (representing design elements as close to the real world as possible) to flat and abstract minimalism (representing with just the bare minimum level of detail required) and deciding which elements of a certain entity represent it best in a minimalist way is one of the most challenging aesthetic tasks artists have to tackle. Pepsi, for example, spent $1 million on the design of their new logo which borrows and takes inspiration from several historical and physical aspects of the world. The change might seem trivial to some but it is something which greatly influences the visual image their customers have of the company and great recognisable logos need more than just 'age' to be memorable.
In this world full of successful artists brandishing their works which are now more accessible than ever with the advent of the Internet and social media, it’s very easy to spend a lifetime marvelling at the creations of others and the beauty they contributed to the world as a whole. There will be moments where you end up completely enraptured by a song; it’s melody moving you to tears, or perhaps, you might find your eyes shimmering at the sheer amount of love and happiness bestowed upon you by a person who weaves her art through your emotions. During all this, it’s important to remember that you too are capable of enriching humanity in your own unique and beautiful way and that you too have the responsibility to give life your own meaning.
So now, ask yourself, what kind of an artist are you?
