Some think of art as a luxury, while others might not see it as icing on the cake but regard it as a way of opening up new horizons, integral to lifting the human spirit and encouraging our aspirations.
A few years back, my sister, who was visiting from Christchurch, and I visited the Auckland Art Gallery to check out the winner of the prestigious 2014 Walters prize.
To find Luke Willis Thompson’s artwork, inthisholeonthisislandwhereiam, we had to take the elevator down to the loading dock at the back of the gallery and get in a waiting taxi. As described in the 2014 Art Gallery catalogue, “with a palpable sense of unease, we set off through the back Auckland streets to an unknown destination, with only the tentative conversation with the driver to break the tense sense of expectation. Arriving at a suburban house, we were invited to enter and wander around, but not to enter into the bedrooms.
With no people inside, yet signs of habitation everywhere, (like the remains of a breakfast dish on the kitchen bench), we gradually came to realize - through closer inspection of items such as books, and photographs that this was the artist’s family home. In such an audacious situation, the boundaries of exclusion and inclusion, intimacy and voyeurism were completely blurred; the artwork demanded we consider new concepts and how to ascribe meaning or determine value”.
In the taxi on the way back to the gallery loading dock, it was as if I had been blessed with new vision. We passed a gang of motorcyclists, and while prior to our recent experience I might have seen a menacing scene, now I saw it as a colourful piece of art. When I commented to my sister, the previously quiet driver added, “Everything is Art”. His words have never left me.
Art comes in many forms; it can change the way we think, like Luke Thompson’s did. It challenges the given and takes our reach further than expected. Furthermore, it can help reimagine the world as it should be.
But art that engages with society at large and not for the elite, is hard to quantify and qualify. Just how does it affect us and why does it matter?
The U.S. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent federal agency that is the largest funder of the arts and arts education in communities nationwide and a catalyst of public and private support for the arts. They invited a variety of employees there to give their views:
“The arts matter because life is dull without perspective. All art, good and bad, made by an individual or a team, brings the perspective of an artist to others. Without the arts, we are confined to one world and one worldview; with the arts, we have the treasure of a million worlds and a million ways to see them.” – Daniel Fishman
“The arts matter because they allow people to uniquely express themselves without fear of giving a wrong answer.” – Lauren Tuzzolino
“The arts matter because they have the power to change lives. They have the power to heal our minds and our bodies through arts-in-healthcare programs, creative aging programs, and the creative arts therapies. The arts are transformative.” – Beth Bienvenu
And regarding art for art’s sake - not only can it help us in terms of more complex emotional and mental challenges and enhance our well-being, but it can also simply add beauty to our lives. It can be used in numerous ways to make spaces and areas visually appealing.
After all, who was it who said, “We may be able to exist without art, but can we truly LIVE without it?” (William Greig)
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