Why Art Matters

1992. I was just a one-year-old when I was first introduced to a video that changed my life. For my birthday I received a VHS tape of a concert tour that took place from May to August of 1992. The band that toured that summer were a troupe of soldiers that entertained rebel forces during Ethiopia’s civil war and were a part of the revolution that toppled the communist military regime, Derg. The songs they sang were songs of freedom, liberation and of peace. I was captivated at the age of one by the band, the melodies, lights, the matching red and yellow tracksuits they all wore. It was from this VHS tape, now twenty-six years old that I learned what musical instruments were and what they looked and sounded like, the way stage lighting worked, and the general look and feel of live productions. This tape filled with African beats and melodies formed the basis of my appreciation and love for music, film and unknowingly began my dive into the world of artistry. It was a slow but steady twenty-six-year descent that ranged from creative writing to the saxophone, eventually songwriting, design, scriptwriting, film directing and preaching. Without this single VHS tape, the very fabric of my existence would be vastly different. I would’ve never discovered writing nor music and my interests in film would have been nonexistent.

I re-count this story because at one point in our lives we all had that coming to Jesus moment with art. It’s a defining landmark, an event that changes the course of our lives entirely. But perhaps this process isn’t a slow burn, long winded journey for you much like it was for myself. Regardless of the path, we can all agree that art inspires art. Perhaps it wasn’t a VHS tape for you. Maybe your inspiration like thousands if not millions came from the artwork of the Renaissance era. Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in Vatican City or The Last Supper and Mona Lisa from DaVinci. Maybe it wasn’t fine art that drew you into this world. Maybe your descent into art came from prose and plays. We attribute the better portion of theater to the English poet and playwright, Shakespeare. He’s regarded as the most influential writer in the English language and the greatest dramatist that ever lived and it stands with reason that his body of work from plays like Romeo + Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth and Julius Caesar defined the mastery of theater and undoubtedly inspired its audience. Phrases like “To be or not to be” and “Romeo, Romeo, where art thou Romeo” have become commonplace in literary English and popular culture. We can only imagine the countless number of artists inspired to create Shakespearean work in the centuries that followed.

Writers who dream to pen a masterpiece stage play for Broadway or actors whose very existence is motivated by one-day reciting lines from classic playwrights and up and coming writers on big stages are influenced by something.

Art has a way to captivate and enthrall us to dream for more. We intrinsically become inspired whether consciously or subconsciously to create what we have seen or heard through our own unique experience. It is through our own innate lives that our distinctive voices tell the stories of our art and in reverse, our art tells the story of our lives. Without these influences, there would be no starting point of reference for the artist. American film auteur director Martin Scorsese whose films depict crime and violence in urban environments often cites Federico Fellini as his inspiration and Fellini’s film 8 ½ as one of his favorite films ever made. Federico Fellini’s films were influenced by his life in 20th century Italy and often made use of baroque images, a movement popularized by Italian baroque painter Caravaggio. There’s almost a three hundred and fifty-year gap between Caravaggio and Scorsese, yet Scorsese became the benefactor of Caravaggio’s work and his unintentional artistic offspring. Art carries a magical influence that outlives its creator, even centuries after it’s original formation.

In 1928 an animated short called Steamboat Willie from the likes of obscure and relatively unknown illustrator Walt Disney became the first animated cartoon to have synchronized sound. After several attempts, Walt was propelled to further create more animated film classics like Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio, which eventually lead to the creation of the empire we now associate as Disney. We can only imagine the millions of viewers who have seen Disney films and how they have shaped many children. Or imagine the millions of visitors who have gone to Disneyland and Disneyworld because of their love for the films the Disney brand has made over the decades and the impact it has had over the generations. There could be potentially millions of kids, who perhaps years from now will cite Disney films as their influence and basis for their work even if they do not enter the creative world.

So why does this matter?

From history we can see how influential art has become to the generations that followed but what I believe is even more important is the emotional connection that art establishes between itself and the audience. There are certain emotions that are evoked when one listens to a song. Over the decades, many experiments have been conducted that show the relationship between instruments and emotions.

One experiment from Teun Lucasseen at semanticscholar. org showed that the piano was neutral in its emotional response and the participants felt emotions of joy and sadness when they listened to a piano whereas the cello and alto saxophone drew sad responses from the participants. We all have that one song that we love that when we listen to, evokes feelings of happiness and takes us back to the exact memory and season when we first listened to that song, album or musical score. In return we have that one song that when we listen to that stirs up feelings of sadness and grief and reminds us of a season in our life when that album/song was prevalent in our lives. Or what about that specific breakup song that you listened to that helped you through that tough season with lyrics you related to, to personify yourself into the music? What’s remarkable is that art can be interwoven into our memories and can induce certain emotions out of us. This certainly isn’t limited to music and transcends to all mediums of art whether it’s writing, theater, painting, film, architecture, sculptures... art evokes an emotional response. We relate to art because of the way it makes us feel.

I still remember the first time I went to see Spider-Man. The opening credits and stringed score from Danny Elfman not only played with my emotions, but the acting, cinematography and action sequences brought to life the comic books I once read as a kid. It was one of the most defining moments of my life and I can distinctly recall almost seventeen years later the time, place and the exact theater my brother and I were in when we watched that film. That’s the level of influence art can have over our lives. Art has the ability to make a lasting impact and create life defining moments. We all can recall specific times in our lives when we watched that one thing or heard that one song or glanced at that one painting or read that one book. These are the events that can shift our lives and can eventually inspire the next generation of artists to create.

And that’s why art matters.

Art gives the artist the freedom to release emotions, thoughts and words through whatever medium to voice their creativity, angst, pain and emotions. And we as the audience benefit from the artistic expression of the artist whether it was the innate intention of the artist or not.

That being said, art is also a reflection of God. After all the original Artist, God himself, created life and everything we see into existence, and we are the direct benefit from His glory. The ability to create art is a gift from God and we should revel in everything we create to reflect the one who gave humanity the ability do so in the first place.

We don’t need a VHS tape with songs of freedom to know that art in all its glory allows us to relate to the subject. Art inspires us and gives us hope. As long as we remain on this Earth, humanity’s reliance upon art is a symbiotic bond woven into us by an all loving creator.