windows and bridges -- art’s practical functions

We all live in boxes we build ourselves. We begin construction at birth, and by now it’s as big as all we’ve experienced. Much of it is inherited, and in the beginning cues come from family members, and then from teachers and peers, and there’s the amount of travel and stuff read, all of it altogether. The size of the box and its contents varies immensely person to person, so much so that conversations can be difficult between them. Windows and bridges are what’s needed, yet somehow the internet has been slamming doors and removing connections back and forth, drawing in the cell walls on everyone’s already pre-packaged sit-com existence. Does any of this sound familiar?

Art won’t answer the question of why we’re here, no matter how much we’re willing to spend, but it does offer questions. These questions enter the nervous system somewhere below a conscious level, and art on the wall is broadcasting a strange set of signals for internal recognition circuits to sort out. Without being aware of it, looking at art refreshes and recalibrates the senses so that the birds will be singing in the parking lot when you leave an art museum. They’ve been there all day but you didn’t hear them going in, and there might be other stuff you’ll begin to notice all at once, clouds in the sky, shadows on the lawn. Art can open a window but it’s up to you to crawl through and begin seeing what’s always been there. Owning and living with art is a technique, a method and plan, to become more open to the world.

I was amused at an article setting out to review the symbolism in Picasso’s ‘guernica,’ when it’s pretty certain that every human who ever lived, going all the way back to the stone age, would get the gist right away. Visual art doesn’t require translation, and we understand painters without speaking their language. In the turbulent goulash of images all around us, enduring original art can be a touchstone, an oasis of genuine human value in a commercial grey-zone, and a lifeline of affirmation for individuals who have become increasingly isolated in the digital crowd. Chances are if you find yourself liking a particular artist, let’s say someone from your hometown, it’s possible others who also like the same artist will share similar values, and might turn out to be friends. Art is a way to represent yourself, so that others might guess less about who you are, and so that you might know them a bit better. Windows and bridges for sale.