KATHMANDU, July 7: I’m not a painter; nor do I know how to carve out a sculpture. But the one thing that I’m passionate about is art. There is a general tendency among people to confine art within the boundary of brushstrokes, colors and canvasses but art goes far beyond that.
A digital click capturing emotions, a piece of writing expressing insights/issues, or even a pleasant musical note can fall under art. The thing is that we just need to find out the right genre (or blend) of art that triggers our feelings.[break]
Why art?
That’s a tough question to answer objectively. What may be an exquisite art for me can be totally irrelevant to someone else. But art has a uniform denomination, which is the expression of sentiments and feelings.
We all have our own inner-world dwelling in us. Some of these suppressed stories need to be ventilated through frustrations and aggression while others need to explode with joy and happiness. Either way, the ultimate aim of art is to help us free our heart, soul and mind.
Along with bestowing a person with pure satisfaction, art builds unity and cohesiveness. It can bring people, communities, nations and even the entire world together to understand and support common causes.
History itself is witness where we’ve seen prominent personalities like Karl Marx, Charlie Chaplin, John Lennon and many others bring changes in the world through their art and craft.
Being a citizen of a nation which is battling through vulnerability and fragmentation, I believe it’s the right time for us to utilize the power of art and heal our ailing nation. Rather than chanting slogans, burning rubber and belting stones at each other, we can reroute our visions through a subtle and effective path.
Creating art is no rocket science. It can be initiated by anyone from any level. We can simply start off by recognizing a particular field of art that inspires us to speak out our mind.
Playing with ideas, concepts and pictures in our mind will sow in us the seed of art. Thenafter, we need to grow, mould and connect our ideas to our audience because, in the end, art must be comprehensible.
Patience and temperament are other factors that are pivotal when someone is devoted to art. Letdowns and failures will often emerge to hinder our efforts but we shouldn’t be dejected. We should realize that genuine arts aren’t made overnight.
These aren’t the hard and fast rules of making art. There are none, actually. But through this space, I simply would like to urge people to start thinking about the aesthetics and significance of art. Remember that we all are artists, and art is an indispensable part of our life.
Therefore, make art. Cheers!
The writer is currently pursuing his Master’s is Business Administration at Ace Institute of Management in Sina Mangal, Kathmandu.