recently brought to my attention that my previous journal was approaching its two-year anniversary.


So, I figured I might as well throw up a few things that I’ve been wanting to get off my chest.



Select Rants on the Subject of Art
And/or
A Belated F*@# You to Miss Bomb

1: What is art?
Browse the art forum, and pretty much every other thread is asking “Is [subject] art???” or claiming “[Subject] isn’t art.” Art isn’t some magical quality that only applies to doodles made with a certain degree of skill, or deep thoughtful abstracts. Art is any form of communication which places a higher value on aesthetic qualities or symbolic connotation than on literal meaning. (My own definition. Dictionaries are too freaking vague.) So that scribbled eye-melting anime style Mary Sue still counts as art. If you want to classify it as good or bad art, that’s your prerogative.

2: Art for art’s sake.
What with the modern art movement and with art teachers who have a fetish for not understanding things, one hears a lot about the greatness of ‘art for art’s sake.’ But take a close look at what that literally means. If we’re defining art as “any form of communication which places a higher value on aesthetic qualities or symbolic connotation than on literal meaning,” (which I am,) then art for art’s sake is just communication for the sake of communication. (Other examples of this include talking to fill a silence and talking because you like the sound of your own voice.) If that’s what you want to romanticize, be my guest, but personally, I’ll go with art that has some meaning- or at least has a subject.

3: Anime and its value.
A lot of art teachers despise anime. The general trend is that they feel it’s a crutch and is unreflective of reality, and keeps you from drawing real art. On an unrelated note, a lot of art teachers think art for art’s sake is a good idea. As far as I’m concerned, though, it’s just a different aesthetic. Sure, anime is overdone on occasion. But people enjoy it. And really, that’s what art is about, isn’t it? You don’t draw things or view things because they’re meaningful, or reflective of reality. You draw things because they’re pretty. And if somebody thinks anime styled art looks good, then they should be drawing anime styled art.



Journal expires 1/19/2010



…I really do need to update more.