what art means to Meera Bhat !

What does art mean to me?

When people talk of art in terms of technique, finesse and value, I can almost feel their words escaping in my brain’s giant yawn. Relevant though they might be in defining an artist, I think these discussions have very little to do with art. Perhaps it is because I have never appraised art through a critic’s eye or a customer’s pride. To me, art has a simple black and white implication – good or bad. The first reaction one has when they look at a painting of “Wow, I want that or wish I could do that.” or “Yikes! They are calling this art?” The inherent personal reaction one has before knowing the artist’s name, the popular opinion or the money involved. While this context may make boring the otherwise colourful expression, I think the matter of interest lies in two entities – the artist and the admirer. What makes a person paint what they do, the way they do it? What makes a person deem it either rapturous or rubbish? There is a psychology involved, I am certain, of which I have no expertise to dissect. So let me dilute it to a familiar territory of emotions (for if emotions were a melody, I have sung them all). Ever since childhood whereon I dabbled in paint, brushes and paper, the purpose of art has been feelings.

Happiness. Melancholy. Rage. Expectation. Desires. Fantasy. Reality. It is the mission of transporting these feelings onto an empty page, a seemingly nothing, transforming it to a creation of the mind, with a hope that it resonates with someone, somewhere. Other creative mediums harness aspects of the creator’s personality, but art captures the core. For a happy person can write of gore and darkness. A passionate romantic can create adrenalin packed bullet ridden movies. An artist, however, can only create what is true to his innate character. And should this piece of work intrigue another, then that person has identified his reflection in that precise work of art.

In a world where we are often bound by monotony, art is one of the avenues of escape. A release, maybe for a minute or for many days, into another world of possibility which make one reflect about this world; this life. Of course, there are the ‘pretenders’… bohemian wanderers in the right get up but in a quest for nothing (Apologies, but I don’t think reefers, rags and rebellion alone make you an artist!) And then there are the ‘authentics’…ordinary individuals who voyage with their inner mind between the boundaries of reality and illusion. It is those who recognize this truth to art who often find themselves liberated.

Meera Bhat is a writer.