What is Art? Yes, I’m pretty sure a lot of people have defended entire PhD dissertations on this topic but, as I said before, André Gide wrote, “Toutes choses sont dites déjà; mais comme personne n’écoute, il faut toujours recommencer. [Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again.]” so I’m going to take André’s advice and write about it anyway. I really should get that quote made up into a plaque that I can put up in my office….

Art is what exactly? Is what I write here something that could be considered art? I suppose in some small way the results of my creative process could be considered art in a very general sense. These words aren’t on the level of Hemingway or Zelazny (yes, really! My absolute favourite quote by a fictional character was written by him: “It is a pain in the ass waiting around for someone to try to kill you.“) but they are my words. I write here with the feeling that I’m shouting into a void. It is disheartening but also liberating as I don’t feel like I need to keep an audience happy. I am making a thing and the act of bringing it into existence is what brings me joy. I lack the skill to make anything else any better so I’ll soldier on with the meagre ability to write that I do have.

Is what I write art, though? I’m not sure I can answer that in any succinct way.  What I write requires effort on my part so one can definitely say that I have crafted something. I guess I look at my writing as something I build. A potter crafts a vessel and I write a blog post. Neither may be seen by anyone beyond a few people who have a connection to the artist. This fact doesn’t make what is created any less a work of art…at least in my opinion.

Sorry for the paucity of blog posts. I’m sure no one is actually following this blog any more. I’m still here but Life is Life.

Useful Links

• André Paul Guillaume Gide (French: [ɑ̃dʁe pɔl ɡijom ʒid]; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). [Wikipedia Article]
• Roger Zelazny [on Goodreads]