Compass

I guess I have finally decided which possible future to take. Picture the future to be this really far off place over the horizon and where you are right now is an intersection with many arrows pointing to all sorts of paths. Some paths paved with gravel, others paved with asphalt. All leading to the grave. At the end of the road, everyone ends up where it all began.

I hope I haven't made an unwise decision to pursue law. Only time will tell I guess.

By the way, I have been toying with the idea of making a switch to Tumblr.

What art means to me.

What art means to me.

Is art useless? An age-old question society has time and again asked. We ask how art has shaped our society and if there is any importance in today’s fast paced economic world. Why should we be placing emphasis on the arts if we are marred by the great number of socio-economic and environmental problems we face today? I for one believe that art has the power to tackle these issues. I believe that the explorative, contemplative, dynamic nature of art can inspire society to rethink how we handle problems and in the process better society.

Let’s first look at how art has evolved to what it is today. There was a change in the perception of art after French artist Duchamp challenged tradition art beliefs with his work entitled Fountain. Traditionally, art was purely aesthetic. However, with Duchamp’s work, art became a social commentator. Art became contemplative. Today, art is used as a medium to explore society’s norms and to question beliefs.

With the idea that art is contemplative in nature, we can use it to encourage people to try and better understand others. Art allows the artist to express the intangible in a more tangible form for others to understand. Take the work of local artist Amanda Heng for instance. Her work revolves largely around the role of women today and in the past. One of her works depicted an iron on top of a type of traditional female wear suspended over words like womb written on the floor with the artist’s hair. The artist was trying to convey what society deemed was what made a woman. What one simple exhibit has done was not just to offer a tangible glimpse of the predominant culture and belief of a given era regarding certain groups of people but also to allow a person to visually juxtapose those beliefs to the ones in current times. Art is therefore essentially a platform for people to gain understanding of the different strata in society. This is something that we could exploit. The ability for art to express ideas in manners that is aesthetic and more tangible.

A way to exploit art is as an alternative way to complement current teaching methods today. In the case of education, students depend on text to gain understanding on certain subjects. Art does not discriminate between the literate and the illiterate and offers an opportunity for people of all cultures and ages a chance to have an interpretation of a given subject. The use of art offers the student a visual and more tangible way of gaining learning. Concepts across the subjects of history and social science can be expressed through the use of art. Let us also not forget that using art is not mutual exclusive with traditional styles of education. This way, students with varied aptitudes can have alternative ways of learning. What we are doing in this instance is to help students view links between different subjects and in doing so, create a more holistic education. This way, we reach out to more students and in the process tackle apathy amongst youth towards society.

Along with the knowledge gained from exploring new interests through art, the imaginative nature of art encourages people to explore beyond their boundaries. This helps allows people to develop their creative side and what the world needs today are innovative and creative solutions to tackle problems. This is where art along with engineering and other field have a role to play.


Innate skills such as creativity can be developed through art. Also, the constant need to explore and embrace new ideas either during the course of creating art or trying to understand art, make one’s mind a fertile ground for innovative ideas to not just take root, but to flourish. Creative solutions such as solar cookers distributed by SunFire Solutions in Johannesburg are examples of good innovation and good design that can help combat climate change by reducing the number of forest cleared for the burning firewood in poor parts Africa and provide remote locations the means to heat food. As such, we can better develop creative societies that can handle the increasing complexity of today’s problems through the use of artistic exploration.

If we examine our economic and environmental problems and there is a common underlying cause - the human desire for more. The problem of climate change today is a cumulative effect of burning fossil fuels to feed the energy hungry world. What sparked the series of recent economic downturns were the leading men who threw ethics to the winds in the name of money. We want bigger cities, bigger homes and bigger bank accounts. We are beginning to lose ourselves to materialism. Art can serve as a reminder to an individual of the non-material. Art softens the edges of everyday life. The aesthetic quality of art cultivates an appreciation for beauty and the fact that art draws inspiration from life, shows how art is essentially an expressed form of the beauty life holds.

One of the things that set humans apart from animals is the ability to appreciate beauty and feel inspired. One of the key drivers of society today is the economy and if we focus too much on the material, what we begin to lose is the sense of being human. We get lost in today’s lifestyle and start to become ‘cogs in a machine’. However, if we begin to embrace just a little bit more of the arts at our workplaces then what art can teach you is to enjoy beauty. There is more to just money. Take for instance the story of an artist named Jane Echelman. She was invited to speak at a TED conference about her urban art. She shared a story of how an attorney from phoenix who was never interested in art saw Jane’s sculpture suspended over a field and dragged all her colleagues from the office to sit under the sculpture (Her Secret is Patience) to enjoy the piece. Art offers us a space to repose and think and that is what people these days seek for. The spread of Yoga throughout the world and how spas are becoming increasingly popular are signs that people recognise the need to slowdown in life. What art does is to remember the beauty in the non-material aspects of life and give us another way to slowdown.

Lastly, I have to add that though art, on a more direct and immediate level does not add much to the material economy of the world, it should not be neglected as there is much long-term and intangible benefits to gain. So, despite comments like how art is for the rich or art carries little practical sense in a world profit, I see art in a different light. I see it as beneficial and relevant to our society.

University.

Admissions. Admissions. I pray that I get into any of the 2 local law schools this year.

So long.

Been some time since I last typed anything on this blog. Time sure flies. It flashes by right in front of your eyes. Sometimes I wonder what time would look like - how it would manifest itself in a visual form if it could. Looking at images of children in their grandparent's laps or a child hidden safe in his mother's bosom seem to bring the idea of time into my mind. I guess I tend to relate time to precious moments in the past. Say 'time' and I'd probably be thinking of the past as opposed to the future.

Speaking of the past. This song really makes me think of the process of aging; of time lapsing. The sand in our 'life' glasses slowly building up to our expiry.

Unspoken.

I doubt anyone will ever find out but I long for you to know. It is odd, it is very unnatural, yet I have a strange longing. I dream of hypothetical scenarios that serve well to my emotions. Yet, I am drained in the morning that I wake. Perhaps I'd find some peace if I do forget. Yet, I choose not. I do not want. There is a strange longing that says, hold on to that tiny spark. The world may look upon it as stupidity. Is there any intellect in this? All is fair in love and war.

Epilogue.

The end of things. The last chapter.

Imperfections.

The world is marred by imperfections. The blemish on your skin, the dead leaf on the tree. Yet, in all it's imperfections is a system perfected over time. On a macro scale, the little imperfections make nature relatively perfect. If it were not for mutations to DNA, there would be no variation and there would be no selection of the fittest. Every mechanism works in tandem. Gaudi, the Architect of Sagrada Familia, a basilica that has taken more than a lifetime to complete and well, is still pretty much incomplete, knew this well. The cathedral featured sinewy columns and organic shapes. In all the twists, the flow, the cathedral was an architectural marvel. The weight distribution was done so in a very different way from previous Gothic designs. Gaudi understood nature. It is nature to have imperfect shapes. I have spoken much but made little a point. Well, it is pretty simple. Imperfections, you just have to view them in a different light.