We have all heard it said that art is a luxury. Not necessarily owning art, but also viewing it in a gallery or at an exhibition, appreciating it is considered by many as a pastime for the idle. Some people believe that art really has no place in society and that we could all live without it. When you especially consider just how much a painting at an auction can go for it does seem extreme, especially when you think that these works of art, these paintings, sculptures etc, don’t actually serve a purpose, do they? Or do they?
Art has been a part of humanity since we lived in caves around 40,000 to 50,000 years ago and even our supposedly less-intelligent ancestors the Neanderthals created cave paintings up to around 66,000 years ago. Those cave paintings of old told stories of a great hunt, or a tragic attack, they remembered a loved one or mapped out a journey. Certain tribes moved in similar circles and so their art was likely to be more of a communication tool, the Facebook of their time, warning of dangers or boasting about how great the tribe was. Some of these cave paintings may have been used to stake a claim on an area of land so that, when the tribe returned, they had a chance of holding on to better hunting grounds.
So art is a form of communication. And not only in some ancient primitive way. Banksy, a somewhat controversial graffiti artist from the UK, creates street art that documents important topics of our times. “Kissing Coppers” from 2004 (originally painted on the side of a pub in Brighton, England) shows two male policemen kissing. “Rage, the Flower Thrower” from 2005 (to be found on the side of a garage in Jerusalem on the main road to Beit Sahour) shows someone dressed ready for a riot throwing, not a Molotov cocktail, but a bunch of flowers.
As children we create without learning. We scribble and build and get messy with paints without anyone telling us how. It seems to be something that comes from within us and, as children, we are likely not to be doing it for any real reason other than it’s simply something we humans do. Yes, a child will frequently talk about the picture they’ve just created but if you watch a child drawing or painting, there’s a real enjoyment in the process, a love of the creative process. Children’s art can be analysed by psychologists, for certain emotions and feelings held deep down. It is a great tool in many ways both diagnostically and therapeutically.
Over the past few years, coloring books for adults have become very fashionable, as life gets more and more hectic. A way if you will of treating modern day stress in these high intensity, always on, technology saturated times we live in. Coloring in books are the perfect tool to help us. Mindfulness in its many forms is an excellent way to stop and breathe, to take time to appreciate the wonders that our lives offer us, but sometimes, as a tool for healing or regaining a sense of balance, simply getting lost in the process of coloring in is the perfect way to allow our minds to take a moment, to wander and to unwind.
What does this tell us? Art is an essential part of being human. We are creators and we love to build and draw and paint and shape. We make art in many forms and the nuances of the why are as varied as the art forms themselves. Whether you consider art to be your favorite graphic novel, or a popular Van Gogh or perhaps something as simple as Mr. Warhol’s famous, tin of beans, art has a place in who we are and is an essential element of every society and every one of us.
