Art is an individualistic extract of the unexplored subconscious, it demands the portrayal of thoughts and emotions to be explicit and bare; but sometimes only to the artist. I say this because I only got to truly understand Faith47’s work and how she had interpreted it only after I had read about her and got to understand what her work represents. Before that I had related to her work in a different way (I still slightly do).
This is true for dance and some genres of music and undoubtedly other forms of art. It demands to be heard, seen and felt. I for 1 am a lover of music and dance. Sometimes I cry when listening to a song or when watching a piece by contemporary dancers. I cry because I am able to relate to the piece by immersing myself in it until I feel (When I’m able to find meaning from it). And at other times I can never figure out why or how I found connection to it. Either way, crying for me means I was able to be susceptible to feelings and therefore allowed myself to experience and find meaning in it.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think appreciation of art is not for everyone, I don’t think everyone is open to the vulnerability art presents; purely because it’s abstract and not everyone is interested in it. And I think paintings make it even harder to try and relate to simply because it’s unspoken art (art with no words).
I spared some time to be reflective about this because initially I was the biggest skeptic about a street art/graffiti project that we as the students working in the community of Mariannridge had to take on. Firstly because I thought that graffiti work had a negative connotation to it and secondly because I pictured Mariannridge looking more of a ghetto because of this. My biggest questions were stemmed from anxiety and doubt. I asked myself how we are hoping to get the community members of Mariannridge to find meaning to beautiful painting placed on the walls. What are we hoping to achieve other than the appreciation of a beautiful piece of art on the wall? What exactly is the movement? Whilst sitting at Mug and Bean having a meeting with one of the graphic designers who potentially will be working on the project, I had an epiphany. Everything just seemed so profound and all of it made sense. My biggest flaw when thinking about this project was that I pictured us getting artists to come into the community and start painting the walls of the families that had agreed. I missed the critical part where artist and community member is given the platform to express what they would find meaningful on their wall. My thoughts were therapist driven and not client-centered as I was thinking along the lines of what I think would be best to put on their wall. I skipped the part where community can be given the opportunity to individually define themselves, their homes and their families through selecting a painting that would depict their individualism, their beliefs, struggles, and aspirations.
When I think about it now, I think my biggest anxiety was the potential this project has and I was asking myself the question how are we going to get the people in the community on board, I was worried about people thinking the idea is ridiculous and that it won’t work. I was just being negative really. But I’m more than excited about the project now, after meeting with a graphic designer that is so passionate about his work and is willing to get other artists on board I was driven to put more energy into the project. Even if it doesn’t take off before our community block at Mariannridge ends, hopefully my team and I would have laid a strong foundation for the project to continue when the next students come on board
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