Why Art? - Emily Cashman

I think art is an outlet for anyone who is searching for a different way to express themself or in need of a break from reality, so that is one reason why it is so widely used. The freedom to create anything you want, anonymously or not, is one reason why art has been an influential aspect of most cultures throughout time. Solely by tracing human history through art, you can get a comprehensive understanding of various cultures and groups of people, which shows how art is extremely important and valuable. I think the role of an artist is to convey his or her emotions in whatever media they seem fit. In some instances, an artist even has the responsibility of accurately portraying the feelings of an entire group of people or documenting the events of a specific time. But in general, I think the only major responsibility of an artist is to translate his or her emotions into something that can be shared with others and allow people to connect with one another. I view language arts differently from other forms of art because you don’t have the option of just glancing at the work and understanding at least some of what the artist is trying to convey. Poetry, essays, and novels require more commitment because they usually just take longer to understand. That doesn’t mean you can’t stare at a painting in the MoMA for an hour and still have no idea what it means, but in my experience, language arts are longer and more comprehensive. I’m not quite sure if I view myself as an artist or not. I’m definitely not an artist in the traditional sense, but I play soccer and that is in a way a “performance”, which is a form of art, so maybe.