Why Art? - Walt Finch

Why art?
I think art has become an important part of society because it helps people to put a picture to the emotions they feel, but might not be able to express.  Other times it is just beautiful and people like to look at it.  Or it is cool and would make neat décor.  But I think the main reason is it helps us come to terms with our emotions.

The role of the artist is to help others to come to terms with their emotions, by providing an image that these people can relate to.  This results in most artists being deep and sensitive, having gone through suffering like in Sunny's Blues so that they can create emotional art that people can relate to.  The responsibility of the artist is to take these emotions, and portray them in a way that makes the viewer come to terms with oneself, not to hate oneself or think they are some kind of evil person.  The art should bring peace to the viewer, not turmoil, and it is important that the artist works to create the proper image.

What set the language arts apart from other arts is the ability to shape how the reader interprets one's art.  In paintings the artist paints his picture, which could mean one thing to himself, then an entirely different and unintended meaning to the viewer.  In language arts the writer can control to a certain extent the conclusion the reader arrives at by guiding them through the story and pointing out certain things.  One can also say a lot more with the language arts, considering it is words rather than a painting.  It also doesn't require one to be deep, one can read the story at the surface level, or allow the author to tell them what they should think, and not have to come up with their own conclusions like one must when viewing art.


Here the viewer is coming up with entirely their own conclusions, rather than being told what to think.  Maybe the meaning is something entirely different to her than what the artist intended.  Or maybe she just thinks it looks cool.  There are so many different ways to view or interpret art which is what makes it cool.  In language arts you are a little more limited, but you can still go at it in different lenses.  The writer does have more control though, which makes language arts unique in that aspect.