Have you painted a Mona Lisa or sculpted the new Venus de Milo lately but you’re not sure if you should unveil it to your family? Humming and hawing about whether or not to show your artwork to the world? Reluctant artist, this article is for you!

When I studied art at York U, I played guitar off and on. I was mediocre at best knowing just enough and developing my skills to the point where I could no longer be considered a hack. The only songs I played were my own. Although I had favourite bands and musicians, I never learned any of their songs. At the time, I didn’t copy any musician’s previously published music for the same reason I currently don’t copy any artist’s previously published artwork. As far as I was concerned. it was a waste of time learning another musician’s music. It wouldn’t set me apart from the original composer and wouldn’t allow me to truly express myself; instead of playing covers, I poured all my time into practicing and writing my own songs.

I know what you’re going to ask. What happened? Why am I not a famous musician? Well, what I didn’t realize at the time was that many important musical lessons could be imparted by listening to and reproducing another musician’s work. My style ,while remaining entirely my own (as much as it could be on a six stringed instrument with limited musical frequencies played by millions of other people), was a little flat, lacked any real flare and really needed an outside opinion or two to set it free. Eventually my flirtation with and my playing of the guitar fell by the wayside. In the end, I think I’m better off. I’m definately a more accomplished painter than I ever was a guitarist.

I used to play it at school in the art shop that I helped to manage. It passed the time and I was able to be creative and get paid in one fell swoop. A friend passed by one day and heard my minstral musings. She asked me if I was going to perform at the open mic night at the local on campus pub. I’d already been toying with the idea and told her honestly that I wasn’t sure yet. She then related to me something her father told her: “Music without an audience is just masturbation.” She left me with that enigmatic thought and went on her way.

What she said to me made a lot of sense (after I’d thought about it for a while). Without an audience to listen to what I’d created, to enjoy it or hate it, to sing along or sit silently, my songs had no justification as a form of communication. I was the initiator, one side of a communication loop. Until there was receiver, at least one other person to listen to what I was playing, I was really just playing [guitar] with myself. The potential inside my songs was never being realized. They were for me and me alone. Self satisfying? Certainly! But ultimately anything they had to say was unexpressed and impotent. And this can be said to be the same for all forms of human expression including Art.

Human expressions and communications need at least two people to be considered complete, the initiator and the receiver. A conversation can not be held by one person. Music needs a creator and an audience to receive its content. Art is no different. Art too needs an audience for it to become Art.

You’ve heard the saying, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it really make a sound?” When the idea behind  this old adage was first coined by George Berkeley I wonder if he truly understood just what he was presenting to the world. The thinking behind it can be tinkered with to fit just about any situation such as, “If an artist paints a painting and no one is there to appreciate it, is it really Art?”

Well, no, it is not Art.

Art is a uniquely human form of communication. It helps us to say and explain things that can’t be adequately described in any other non-visual way and, like all communication, it needs both an initiator and receiver to be complete. Any artwork, even that which may be considered the most technically gifted artwork ever produced or projects the hardest hitting concept in human history, will remain purposeless and unfulfilled without at least one person outside of the initiator laying eyes on it. Egocentric and self-indulgent, unseen artwork is ultimately masturbatory by it’s very nature and doomed to dwell in obscurity forever.

Scared now? Don’t be. Thinking that all the effort you poured into that sculpture, those drawings or those prints was a waste of time? Relax. There’s an easy way to fix the situation. Show your Art!

Fine art galleries abound and there’s one out in the world with your name on it. They cater to all styles and tastes. Not ready to fill a gallery yet? Try a juried exhibition! New competitions are announced all the time and they usually only ask for one piece. Some are physical shows while others are online. Not quite there yet? Start small then! Invite some friends or family over and have an in house art party. Have a one day open house with your artwork on display. Maybe your style would suit the local coffee house. It doesn’t hurt to ask! Still feeling timid? Stay at arm’s length from your audience then by starting your own personal gallery website. Show your work to the online community. Post pictures to your FaceBook or MySpace profiles. The options for showing Art are almost as limitless as the types of Art that exist, but for it to truly exist as Art, it must have an audience.

Speaking of audiences, to get back to my initial anecdote…after thinking about what my friend had related to me at the art shop I went ahead, signed up for the open mic night at the Absinthe Pub and rocked the house with some of my original selections. That marked one of the only two times I played my own songs for an audience. While I enjoy music and I do enjoy playing it, I never fell in love with the performance side. As I said before, I’m a much more accomplished painter than I ever was a musician. And thank goodness. My lyrics were terrible!

For now, that is all. Goodnight.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 18th, 2009 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Articles, on ART . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.