Art: A Reimagining of the World

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As a student majoring in Art as well as English, I am seldom asked what Art means to me unless my reasons are wanted to fulfil a criterion in an assessment. So today, I had a reflective look into my most desired form of recreation. I decided to pick it apart and look at it from an utterly different view. And I found that when the act of creating art is broken down, it becomes rather interesting.

Looking at an artwork allows you a long and meaningful glimpse into the mind of the artist. It shows you the breadth and width of the artist's mind, spanning moreso deep into the form that the artwork comes in. My 'Fragmented Self-Portrait' is a canvas with my face split into two artistic forms. When I completed it, I thought nothing of the delivery to my recipients. I thought no sort of liberating reactions would come from their viewing of it because I did not see the point of being amazed by a self-portrait. But I was wrong. I only realised now that my audience did not take, or so I think, an interest in my face alone, rather in the portrayal of my face and the background and the context and what it all could mean. Subconsciously, I suppose I wanted people to attempt to decipher it, and I had achieved just that. With its accompanying poem, it stands tall today in my art coordinator's office, waiting to be hung in the university as by the order of the Dean. That art piece stands as a reminder that a viewpoint proves rather interesting once exposed, particularly in the art form, no matter its content.

If you look at objects as objects, then you will identify them as objects alone and you will find it difficult to stray from thinking that what you are observing is an object and not the mixture of hues and lines. The creation of Art is a recreation of our world, in its simplest context, portrayed complexly - or simply, depending on the style of the artist. Artists thus see the world differently, like the way a scientist sees the world through atoms and metaphysical existence, artists see the world as pigments and textures. We offer another veneer to reality, one that is implemented through creative stylisation, promoting harmony within artistic elements and principles.

Art itself is a reimagining of our world. It is not always the realistic depiction of something within it, which it can be mistaken for, rather it can be the most surreal or abstract replica of it. Art can never be identical to that which it represents, this it is mimetic of aspects of our reality in the same way that a realist fiction text represents society. The most special thing about art, though, is its ability to do this through the eyes of the artist. And the most peculiar thing about it is that it comes in many forms, not just the illustrative kind - it comes in the form of music, dance, media and crosses into varied domains.

That is why Art is crucial when it comes to students. If one cannot think, act or express in an abstract way, then one grows up living a bland existence, lacking enrichment and lacking excitement. 'Earth', as the picture above describes, becomes 'eh'.