Is Art Even Essential?

I didn’t pursue art for a long time because I myself didn’t even think art was necessary.

I had the idea that starving artists make art nobody needs while living along the poverty line. That nobody even buys art except for the rich and famous.

Even when I started pursuing art full-time I wondered - is this even necessary? At least engineering made more sense from an economic perspective.

I tried living life without making art for a while. No dancing or painting after work or making videos on the weekends. My days became dry and routine - rolling onto the couch after work to the bed and back again.

I realized I needed art. I needed to create art to feel like life was joyous and wonderful and not mundane, lifeless, boring, muted.

Art, in my opinion, at its most basic definition is expression. Art of dancing, art of writing, art of engineering - we are all expressing something inside of ourselves and releasing it. When you spend all day helping create someone else’s story, or worse a corporation’s, you hold so much of yourself inside.

I have A LOT to express. And the tools and technique to express them. To create art and selling it is my way of saying - I see you and you see me. I want to help you express this part of yourself when you might not have the tools.

All around you are stories someone is telling: we are economical and are competitive against our rivals(TEMU?), we care about your safety and want to be reliable(Fire alarms), we care about your comfort(blankets), we love to be bold, we love to be calm.

I think in that way, maybe you could argue that Art with a capital A fine art might not be necessary. But art as expression? It’s everywhere. It’s all around us. It’s built into our very beings.