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Art And What It Is

I just recently started university and I have been asked the following questions:

What is your personal philosophy of art?
What must art do and be?

Art is a very personal subject to me, as it probably is to everyone else reading this. I think we as humans have the capability to see art everywhere and in everything, infinite and everpresent in the whole universe as an inexhaustible force that will survive us all. If we ever met some form of developed aliens, I am sure that they would have their own forms of art and we would be able to communicate with them through it as a universal language.

Basically, art can be anything you want it to be. It can be something simple that catches your eye in the middle of your repetitive daily routine, like a small yellow plastic bag floating in the wind following you on your way home from work.
Or it can be a famous, carefully thought out sculpture placed in a museum that you will see only once in your life during your trip to Italy.
It can ve manmade, a painting you made, or maybe a tattoo that your friend wears proudly.
Or it can just be there, natural, like bark on a tree that reminds you of something unusual, or old stalactites deep in a lonely cave.

If art has to be molded by someone with a vision and intention behind it, it should be because of an honest itch and a need to create, stemming from emotion that has to be expressed and released. I would describe art as an unnecessary necessity.

Just like art, all people have the same core value, but there are people in this world who don't see art as anything useful, they say it's not their cup of tea and maybe they aren't interested in art at all. But the truth is that art is everywhere and for everyone, no matter what anyone thinks.
And then there's a different species, the people that value art and people that create art. Some naturally born artists feel this craving to create ever since they realized they are capable of making things. And once that happens, it never leaves them.

I think art like that, created out of passion, should be free and honest, a personal fulfillment of the need to create, while also trying to not only help yourself, but give something to the world, be it addressing an important issue that is dear to you through art, or even just offering a platform to others that need it, because there is always someone who isn't as seen as you are and also deserves attention.

Anything can be art. And just like that, anyone can be an artist. It's not some elitist bunch of realists that does everything perfectly. If you make things, its art. If you make art, you are an artist. Believe in yourself with the skills you have now and do what you love. That, in my opinion, is art.

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