Art is Pointless | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Entertainment

Art is Pointless

What exactly is art for?

1137
Art is Pointless
galleryintell.com

We've all heard jokes about arts majors working at Starbucks. In a still-unsteady economy, a swelling population, and a competitive job market, spending thousands of dollars and four to six years on a creative writing, art, or theatre degree seems, to many, naive at best and decadent self-sabotage at worst. There's sometimes a shade of judgement to these sentiments-maybe you deserve underemployment for not choosing to pursue something that would benefit society. Something with a purpose, instead of a hobby.

This article tries to defend the humanities, laying the blame for their decline in status on vague and purposeless curriculums that ignore the uses the classics could have. We should instead, it claims, be specifically teaching students on how to practically apply great works in their lives, proposing, "One would still study novels, histories, plays, psychoanalysis and paintings, but one would do so for explicitly therapeutic ends. So Anna Karenina and Madame Bovary would be assigned in a course on ‘How to manage the tensions of marriage’ instead of belonging in a course on ‘Trends in nineteenth-century fiction.’"

This is a fun idea. The ancient Greeks, after all, understood that tragic drama provided katharsis, “purification” of emotions, through identification with the suffering characters. Is this what artists can say to those who would question why they gamble so much time and money getting better at something that is mostly “for fun"? That it’s an indirect kind of therapy?

Since humans first outlined their hands in pigment on cave walls, lots of things have helped to motivate art-love, lust, rage, despair, pain, God. What would you say the purpose of art is? Is it to foment rebellion, stir social change, and protest the status quo? To help us heal old wounds?

In Fahrenheit 451, one of the reasons society has collectively decided to ban and burn books and stare at giant television screens instead of reading, Ray Bradbury tells us, is that “books are to remind us what asses and fools we are.” They give us a reality check, they make us uncomfortable. This is wise. But do you imagine Ray Bradbury wrote his many novels and hundreds of short stories to make you feel like a fool?

We know that hugging or kissing a loved one reduces stress. How would you feel, though, if somebody told you the purpose of loving relationships is to reduce stress?

Art, good art, does a lot of things. But it does not have to do anything. Those who create do so to expand the universe, to communicate something they cannot communicate in any other way, to fulfill a deep and powerful instinct. Trying to assign a utilitarian purpose for something that comes from something so irrational, or at least mysterious, is limiting. A good movie, song, novel, poem, play, or painting may inspire us to protest war or social injustice, or to pursue our dreams. It may inspire us to learn more about a topic, to profess our love for someone, to come to terms with a loss, to convert to a different religion, or move to New Zealand because woah, that majestic mountain range wasn’t CGI, but it is not for any of those things, not in the way guns are for killing or beds are for sleep. Art is art because it does not need a purpose, it is a purpose.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Entertainment

Every Girl Needs To Listen To 'She Used To Be Mine' By Sara Bareilles

These powerful lyrics remind us how much good is inside each of us and that sometimes we are too blinded by our imperfections to see the other side of the coin, to see all of that good.

109266
Every Girl Needs To Listen To 'She Used To Be Mine' By Sara Bareilles

The song was sent to me late in the middle of the night. I was still awake enough to plug in my headphones and listen to it immediately. I always did this when my best friend sent me songs, never wasting a moment. She had sent a message with this one too, telling me it reminded her so much of both of us and what we have each been through in the past couple of months.

Keep Reading...Show less
Zodiac wheel with signs and symbols surrounding a central sun against a starry sky.

What's your sign? It's one of the first questions some of us are asked when approached by someone in a bar, at a party or even when having lunch with some of our friends. Astrology, for centuries, has been one of the largest phenomenons out there. There's a reason why many magazines and newspapers have a horoscope page, and there's also a reason why almost every bookstore or library has a section dedicated completely to astrology. Many of us could just be curious about why some of us act differently than others and whom we will get along with best, and others may just want to see if their sign does, in fact, match their personality.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

20 Song Lyrics To Put A Spring Into Your Instagram Captions

"On an island in the sun, We'll be playing and having fun"

21271
Person in front of neon musical instruments; glowing red and white lights.
Photo by Spencer Imbrock on Unsplash

Whenever I post a picture to Instagram, it takes me so long to come up with a caption. I want to be funny, clever, cute and direct all at the same time. It can be frustrating! So I just look for some online. I really like to find a song lyric that goes with my picture, I just feel like it gives the picture a certain vibe.

Here's a list of song lyrics that can go with any picture you want to post!

Keep Reading...Show less
Chalk drawing of scales weighing "good" and "bad" on a blackboard.
WP content

Being a good person does not depend on your religion or status in life, your race or skin color, political views or culture. It depends on how good you treat others.

We are all born to do something great. Whether that be to grow up and become a doctor and save the lives of thousands of people, run a marathon, win the Noble Peace Prize, or be the greatest mother or father for your own future children one day. Regardless, we are all born with a purpose. But in between birth and death lies a path that life paves for us; a path that we must fill with something that gives our lives meaning.

Keep Reading...Show less
Health and Wellness

10 Hygiene Tips For All College Athletes

College athletes, it's time we talk about sports hygiene.

19575
Woman doing pull-ups on bars with sun shining behind her.

I got a request to talk about college athletes hygiene so here it is.

College athletes, I get it, you are busy! From class, to morning workouts, to study table, to practice, and more. But that does not excuse the fact that your hygiene comes first! Here are some tips when it comes to taking care of your self.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments