Do We Need Art In our Lives
Art is commonly associated with pieces of work in a gallery, whether it’s a modern sculpture or a Renaissance painting. However, there’s more to it than meets the eye. We are surrounded by many forms of art — posters, photographs, and home decorations — on a daily basis. Every culture has art; there’s a diverse range from Chinese terracotta figurines to Indian textile art. Like language and laughter, art is a fundamental human behavior. It’s integral in our society as it bridges the gap between cultures and enriches our emotional world.
Art gives us a better understanding of the world’s various cultures and history. There are no language barriers: it’s universal. By observing it, we get a glimpse of a person’s life through their eyes. Michael Gazzaniga, the author of The Dana Consortium Report on Arts and Cognition, conveys that art, like love, appears as a form of fragile communication where complete strangers can understand one another. Whether you speak Hindi or an uncommon dialect of Swahili, art connects us on a higher level.
Through art, we also understand the joy and we see the despair of people and their world. Brian Kisida, author of the New York Times article, “Art Makes You Smart,” states that art exposes students to diverse ideas that challenge them with different perspectives.” We aren’t all knowledgeable about cultures from experiencing it firsthand. We learn through what we see in the media or importantly, through art. Art reflects the cultural values we have and helps to preserve our diverse communities.
Essentially, humans see how the world has changed and how that shapes us into who we are today.
Art also engages the emotions that we might fail to experience in our busy lives. If we were truly observant of our surroundings, we would be astounded by the beauty of art in our lives. It’s a medium to convey ideas and emotion and creates a full range of expression. In the New York Times article, “Art in Atrocity,” the author Bra Evans, expresses that art uses symbolic knowledge to amplify a person’s understanding of self and the world. Art chronicles life over time to share our individual stories. We not only learn from these stories, but we experience feeling. We are provided a release, a place of reflection to engage ourselves.
Without realizing it, we’re immersed in the power of art most of the time. Art provides us with a deeper understanding of emotions and our diverse cultures. It’s a history lesson, personal story, and preservation of culture all in one. Our mind and eyes witness a truly unique experience: one that comes from the heart in visionary ideas.
