What is art and why do we need it?
Art exists in various forms and giving a concrete definition of it can be quite challenging. Some people refer to it as any creative work of a human being. Others refer to it as a way an artist will express himself/herself. Therefore there just so many different definitions of art so that we can’t categorically come up with a one. Of course there are various fields of art which include; music, film, theatre, and pop culture.
Art means a lot of things to different people and the way one person understands art may be quite different from what another person understands it. Here are some five reasons why we humans may need art:
1. Art is just a natural human instinct
Humans are created in a way that they will instinctively create art and this is why you will find every culture in the world out there has art. Just like eating, smiling and laughing, art forms an important human behavior. Art is simply what humans are and therefore we simply need it because it makes us whole and feel complete.
2. Art is a means of communicating
Art is an excellent form of communicating just like we use language to communicate our ideas to each other. Art is a different form of communication that enables us to convey our ideas or information in a way that we may not really know how to express. Art makes it easy for artists to share their thoughts, ideas and even vision that may not be easy to be expressed in any other way. Indeed art is needed in the human society for mankind to have a broad range of expression that is full.
3. Art has healing power
By creating art you can feel relaxed or soothed or at times get stimulated in a different way. When an artist creates any work of art, he/she will have both their mind and bodies engaged thus get that opportunity to reflect and look inward. When you experience art, it gives you reason to think and in some way be reflective or get inspired. You take for instance an artist who creates famous surreal art such as Suzi Nassif who says art inspires her inner most thoughts regarding social issues & occurrences and everyday life she experiences. Suzi has done lots of artwork with some involving canvas painting.
4. Art is a way to tell a story
Art has been used to records accounts in history through for instance the cave paintings some of which have been discovered that tell us about the ancient cultures and how the society then was like. Art in itself is a chronicle of our experiences and our way of life over time.
5. Art is an experience that brings us together
There are various forms of art that brings us together such as film, theatre performance, and music. You will find people gathering in film halls, or movie halls to catch a film together. When a choir is performing, the choir itself is a group of humans and the audience listening and watching is also a community of humans!
