For hundreds of years, for many people, the purpose of art has been to be beautiful.
The 20th century changed all that. We saw a lot of upheaval. Art became ugly.
It became clear that the purpose of art is not so much to be beautiful or convey a sense of beauty or have an “uplifting-ness” (if that’s a word) but to move people.
But maybe that’s not quite it. Maybe it’s more than just moving people.
For a long time I thought the purpose of art was to move people, but now I think that the purpose is even greater and deeper: to transform.
Maybe the purpose of art is to transform the viewer.
Perhaps that transformation evokes a sense of beauty in the viewer. Or perhaps it evokes anger and confusion.Either way, the viewer is not only moved, but transformed, because this is something they weren’t experiencing before viewing the art.
There’s a lot more than just simple movement. Good art will always leave a mark. Its viewers will be changed, different from before they saw it.
[…] the centuries, artists have had a lot of different roles. While the roles have all been different, the one constant is to transform. To create […]