ART: HOW SHOULD IT BE?

Should art be ugly, aggressive, anger-fueled, and depressive?

Who determines the values of art today? Is there a fashion, a trend, for art in the postmodern world? What kind of target do the compradores of the art world set while manipulating artists? Does the artist irresponsibly violate life ethics just to remain the center of attention?

Visual images precede words. Before we express something, we think; and what guides our thoughts are our emotions. Visual images are formed before words, and only later do they translate into language. Painting came before writing; in fact, writing was born from painting. Before a thought is formed, past images are crucial. A scent, a sound, recalls an event experienced in the past, triggering the subconscious, bringing it to the present, to our current position and moment, where it manifests.

The impact of visual images is incredibly powerful. An environment made of shapes and colors alters our emotional state; images connected to the past trigger the creation of new thoughts. Because humans are generally dependent on their history, the sources of memories coming from the past are deeply influential. Humanity has been aware of this since ancient times. The power of images is magical, because when you record an image into your consciousness over and over again, it begins to become a part of you. Ultimately, it manifests in your life as a hybrid reality, integrating with what is already in your mind. This is your manipulated reality.

Today, the postmodern world continues to use visual images for the purpose of spellbinding and magic. Especially the advertising sector, by creating various flashes in minds, settles into subconscious records and makes you buy houses, cars, and new clothes—even before the old ones wear out. It makes you build families, bear children, get divorced, grow old, fall ill, and commit suicide; it profits from all of you and makes others profit. It turns you into a materialist.

Then there are visual images used for covert advertising, marketed under the guise of "art". Art grows alongside civilizations because it must look grand to convey the authority of the established reign. And it is the artist who creates this imposing visuality. The empire, or whoever holds the authority and wishes to appear influential, selects the artist who can best serve that purpose and create the required impact. They choose the one who can best satisfy the images dwelling in their own desires. Then, they feed, inflate, and raise the artist's ego. The artist becomes a massive, bloated ego—someone whose identity has been defined by others, not even aware of whom or what they are serving. Sometimes, they even turn into an obsessive lunatic.

Although postmodern art tries to stand tall with slogans like "art is free, the artist is free," if it is following a fashion, the selectors simply imitate those at the forefront and choose artists who offer the "trendy" images of the day. Those at the center support those whose artistic images bring power to them. Some are aware of this, while others serve the center without even realizing it, chasing a balloon ego.

What do those at the center want? If today's art is built upon fragmentation, blood, explosions, dead bodies, sickness, loneliness, misery dramas, or dark images, disturbing forms, and sounds—and if this is what is supported—isn't the agenda crystal clear? It is to create forms built on fear for the sake of inducing fear. They terrify you, then say, "do not worry, we will protect you," and begin to guide you as they please. Fear summons violence; it sells weapons; it triggers wars, and breeds things you cannot even imagine. Love and romance are reduced to objects of ridicule. Because love is the mother of courage, they create images designed to murder it.

If the person called an artist has not expanded their awareness, they will remain a prisoner of their ego for life and perhaps vanish within very dark tunnels. The institutions and organizations supporting the artist run after current images called "fashion-trends," losing themselves in dark tunnels, ignorant of whom and what they serve, just to feel grand, proud, and arrogant. They live and die without ever realizing the monsters they serve.

Yet, the responsibility of those who appeal to the masses by creating images is to unify and to build. If so, they must erase anger from the images they create and replace it with compassion and love. This begins with the artist feeling compassion and love for themselves first, not with worshipping their own ego. That inflated thing eventually steps outside of the person and swallows them whole.

Somnur vdK