What is "Art"?

  This week I chose to put an item up on a stand that we all completely over look everyday, multiple times a day: a nice full roll of toilet paper. I wanted to find something that I would have never associated with the word "art" in order to challenge myself, to push past my usual ideas of what art is. The first few seconds, obviously my brain was just fixed on the question of why is a full roll of toilet paper on a stand instead of in the bathroom where it could become useful? It took a few minutes to look past the common household product title it held, then I allowed myself to break down what I was really looking at. The fact that this paper was created by a tree in itself is amazing, the technique that was needed in order to create such a soft tissue from the harsh and rough bark from a tree. Then looking beyond that, I taken back on how much of this matter was perfectly wrapped around another cylinder object that was also made from a tree, how not one layer was out of sync. I slowly started to admire this object more and more, being more and more interested in how this item was made. The soft texture and white complexion slowly made me feel relaxed, as if I was looking at a white flower, how delicate it is and how gentle I then wanted to be. It was a beautiful experience.

One of the most overlooked phenomenons that happen everyday is the sunrise and sunset. Especially in Indiana we have so many open spaces and fields that provide a perfect view during these moments that no Instagram filter can create, so I chose to be more aware of this this week. At first glance, of course the view is absolutely stunning, but what does "stunning" really mean to you? Once I stopped and slowed down my breathing and raised my awareness, what I was seeing before me completely baffled me. The colors started to become more vibrant, or they were always vibrant and I just now realized it. As if the horizon was on fire, the colors were similar to a flame, but the emotion that came over me wasn't that of panic, but that of overwhelming serenity, of contentment, as if everything was going to be "okay", even if it wasn't. The sky made everything seem so small, so unimportant, almost making fun of all of the pitiful stresses we let overwhelm us like making an appointment on time or spilling our coffee. As this time of day does not last too long, what I learned and felt during that time stayed with me every moment after.

"I think art is whatever the individual decides what art is. To me, modern art is not art, it's piles of randomly welded together trash. To someone else, it can be one of the most expressive and emotionally moving pieces they see. I think the reason to this day that we can not have one, singular catch-all term for what can and can not be called art, is because it's this strange and rare thing that is different for every single person on earth and no two people will ever likely have the same experience looking at the same thing."

As everyone might have a certain perspective that they would like to stand firm in, as they should and have complete freedom to do so, I feel strongly in agreement that every person chooses whether it is art to them or not, whether they feel connected to what's in front of them. Life gives the mind the ability to feel and to be aware of certain things around it based on what that person has experienced, seen, etc. Every life is different, so there is no question that every work of art is perceived as something that they other person doesn't see.

Even though every perception is different, I do think that it is completely possible to look at a work of art in a different light then what it is usually seen as, in order to attempt to see what the other person is seeing. To be aware of psychical distance is to know that your mind is able to be steered into seeing something in a different way, to allow your beliefs and walls to move aside and to allow something new, as emotion, feeling, ideas to come through instead.