Art Appreciation

"I want to thank anyone who spends part of their day creating. I don't care if it's a book, a film, a painting, a dance, a piece of theater, a piece of music. Anybody who spends part of their day sharing their experience with us. I think the world would be unlivable without art."

This was the meat of Steven Soderbergh's acceptance speech in 2001 for his best director Oscar win for the movie Traffic. I remember watching it, applauding it, repeating it and I have tried to, on at least some level, live it.

In this day and age where everything is easier, faster and more attainable than it used to be, you might think that art would be more plentiful and appreciated. One might shudder to think that at one time we actually had to make plans to go to the mall to buy a CD and a shirt, the grocery store for food and the hardware store to have a key made. Stop at a garage to get your oil changed. Then hurry home to cook dinner while we waited for a letter from a friend to arrive with the days mail, at the same time not going too far from the phone in case that important call you were expecting came in. And don't forget that your favorite show is on tonight so you can't leave the house and miss it because it won't be on for another few months or not ever again.

Now we download the CD while we check our mail, our phones are with us wherever we go and our oil is getting changed at the same place we're buying our key, groceries and shirts. At some point grab a bite at a drive-thru and the DVR is set to record your TV show but if you miss it, it will be on again right after, three more times this weekend or On Demand. A whole day twenty years ago is now two hours of your morning.

And yet, with all this free time no one says "I'm going to go to the museum more."

Quite frankly I think that this new and speedy world is more likely the cause of the lack of art appreciation rather something that would encourage it. We don't have to work as hard. We don't have to think as hard. And since everything is easier to do then it makes creative problem solving a thing of the past. We don't have to plan or manage as much as we used to so the right side of our brains, which are in charge of abstract thought, are slowly but surely crawling away into a hollow log and waiting to die.

I have often expressed my frustration at the lack of artful open-mindedness in my community often to the point of sounding boring and pompous. But I can't help, and refuse to apologize for, wanting more than ordinary, average, typical or creatively dead. It's absolutely frustrating to me that when someone comes into the shop saying "I want a tattoo but I don't know what I want." and they search the walls for some kind of inspiration. It's happened too many times that when I face these people I ask them to tell me about themselves and the things in their life that they are passionate about. They just keep looking around and say nothing while shrugging their shoulders. It's ok to not know what you want. It's not a crime to have all the charisma of a bottle of ketchup. But if you won't help me to help you help me then I can't help you.

I almost feel guilty in my angst. I can't really be upset with these people and their lack of imagination any more than I should get angry at a group of monkeys for throwing their own poop at each other. Let's face it: some people just don't know any better. So I ask as a last resort, "Is there anything in your life that you have ever liked ever?". The answer to this question is usually a dismissive "Not really.". Really? All your life, as a child and into adulthood you just sat in a blank room and stared at nothing until it was time to eat? I was a Star Wars freak. I collected comic books. I practiced martial arts. I doodled skulls and Frankenstein in my notes during class and thought Pee Wee Herman was the absolute funniest thing ever. Poop-throwin' monkeys or not, I find it hard to believe that this many people in the world have nothing on their minds.

Maybe I'm just writing this blog due to all the tribal, barbed-wire armband tattoos I've been asked to do the past few weeks. Or the own name tats. Or the kids name tats. Or the hearts with wings. Or the countless other things that have nothing to do with art as much as it seems like Invasion of the Body Snatchers came true to life and stole everyones creativity. These tattoos still take talent to apply and can be pretty cool if I'm allowed a few certain freedoms. But 8 out of 10 times I am not. I'm a gourmet chef and the only thing people want me to make is toast.

Part of me wants to shut up and be grateful for the chance to be an artist. But much larger parts of me (I think it's my ass and love handles) want to be more artist. A better artist. A challenged artist. Is it wrong to want this? Is it unfair of me to want my community to want more from me? Am I being a snob for wanting to give more to them?

The world is unlivable without art. If we can't make some then let's try to appreciate some. If we can't appreciate it then let's appreciate the ones that do. And if you have no passion for anything ever and you want a tattoo from me then maybe you could just sit down, shut up and I'll tattoo whatever I want to tattoo on you since it won't seem to matter anyway.

Sigh. One tribal, barbed-wire armband coming right up, sir.