The Study of Art

Why So Serious
Why this long winded discussion? Why the class to define what is, or what is not? Why must we discuss the ins and outs, rather than simply doing? What has changed so much, that art is no longer art, but an object of scrutiny and something that must be dissected to each piece that put it together?

Forgive my questions, for I do not understand. I once thought art was beauty, inspired from something unnamed inside the self. How is it then, that it can be dissected, taken apart, labeled? How can one be taught to create art? Where then is the imagination flowing from mind to surface? Where then is the free flow of thoughts, the struggles to create perfection?

Art is beauty, is it not? One man's trash, another's treasure? Are there rules then, on what is art, and what is not? On who can create it, and who may not? How is that we study art? How does one learn to appreciate that which counts as art? Who is the greatest judge, to say what is?

And I wonder… if you believe such things, that art can be graded, dissected, rated, priced on a human scale, if you really know what it means to create. Do you know the feeling that happens when creation flows from your fingers, like an unquenchable flood? Have you experienced life? Or do you only follow the rules spelled out that are like a cage, barring you in.

Or, am I simply an ignorant fool, meddling in the affairs of those whom I can only dream of imitating?