Student Blog: An Artistic Manifesto

Before I ever developed a distinct taste in art, a favor for certain aesthetics or genres or even method of delivery, I was still deeply and inextinguishably drawn to it.

At too young an age to fully articulate or understand the connection I felt to any given song, movie, or musical placed before me, all I could say to defend my passion was "I just like it, I like the way it makes me feel".

I didn't know that it was a certain film grain and camera lens that made that one movie seem so creepy, that it was minor chords that made that song seem so sad, I knew none of the tricks of the trade or the depth of the craft, all I knew was the feeling I got in my chest every time I sat down to watch a "good" movie or listen to a "good" song.

Now, years later as a student at one of the most reputable arts programs in the country, I am able to detect and appreciate the nuance of a well crafted piece of art. But still, my true connection to art lies in the emotional experience that results from it.

Especially in a collegiate setting like the one I exist in today, it can be easy to discount the importance of art as a trade, to see it as trivial in comparison to more "impactful" professions or skills. I often find myself asking what is the point? What do I want to do with my art? Sure I like to create, it makes me happy but what do I want to achieve? But every day I find something to remind me that art has power, immense power. To manipulate the way people think, act, and most importantly, feel.

How people think is how they interact with themselves, how people act is how they interact with the world, and how people feel is how the world interacts with them. It is a beautiful, complex, and enriching experience, and it is one we don't get enough of.

Today, so much of life is about just "getting through" things. For efficiency, for ease, sometimes even for a lack of pain. Dissociating and turning off our less-manageable emotions in order to get things done in a way we don't even detect most of the time. The cliche of "life moves so fast you might miss it" is more true than ever in our present day. The range of emotions we experience in our day to day life is extremely limited - momentary frustration, satisfaction, boredom, confusion. Never euphoric joy, skull shattering fury, debilitating pain, never any extreme.

If there was a 1-10 scale of human emotions - 1 being upset, 10 being happy, most people would stay in the 4-6 range, and anything outside of this would be irregular, and often even seen as embarrassing when fully expressed. To not utilize the entire scale, the entire spectrum of human emotion, is to discount part of the human experience. In a world where so much is manmade, success and the various yardsticks people use to measure it - all determined by society. Emotion is one of the few things that is not, that is natural and intrinsic, and is supposed to be unavoidable.

To feel is to be brought to life, to turn black and white into color and realize the existence of a grayscale you never noticed was there. I think I want my art to do that. I want to bring people to life. While I understand and preach the importance of spreading impactful messages through art, educating audiences, and making important commentary, my personal artistic pursuit is simply to make my audiences feel - as deeply and personally as they can. To some it may sound aimless or strange, but to me it's the noblest task I could take on.