Perspective

So, if you follow my blog, you just had two days of downer posts.  Not negative posts, but posts examining the worst of human nature instead of the best.  After all, my usual topics of conversation are not torture and 9-11.  So the question begs to be asked...where do we get the positive out of these negatives? 

I firmly believe that attitudes and beliefs can be changed.  We are artists.  Our work appeals to people on a visceral level.  People walking by a painting or a piece of jewelry don't stop and examine it carefully because of a calculated decision to stop at that location.  They stop and look because something in that piece speaks to their soul.  That's as it should be - art should speak to the soul.  And through our art we can influence people's thoughts into the positive or negative.  Think about art pieces that have caused thought, and controversy, over the years. 

Picasso's "Guernica".  If you haven't looked
carefully at it, Google or Bing it and take
a close look through the images.

Picasso's "Guernica" was his statement on the horrors of war.  It was his masterpiece and helped define him as an artist.  (In fact, I think it is one of the very few pieces that he created that was worth the accolades that it received.  But that's just my opinion.)  What counts here is the large number of people who have viewed this piece and who have come away from it thinking about the horror of war and how they could effect peace in their lives.  Art speaks. 

Andreas Serrano's controversial piece.  Would
he be as well known without having made this?

Another piece that speaks, although in a more controversial role, is Andreas Serrano's "Piss Christ" where he had a crucifix suspended in a jar of urine.  People were up in arms about this piece when it first debuted; for all I know, they still are.  It was considered disrespectful to put a symbol of God (to so many people) into a vat of human waste.  But it made people think.  Art speaks. 

So make your art speak.  But make it speak to the positive - the good in people, the beauty of our surroundings, and the positive hopes of mankind.  Perhaps our artwork will influence other positive thoughts and we will start a landslide of kindness instead of the constant barrage of negatives that seem to fill our world today.