Intention Series – What is art?
Any conscious action can be performed artfully. It is the thought behind an action, the expression that makes an ordinary action extraordinary. The Chinese tea ceremony is one example. The simple act of making tea turns into a performance art piece. Years of practice go into perfecting this form. The Japanese practice of putting broken things together called “Kintsugi” is an art form passed on for generations. Bartending is an art, writing is an art, music is but also the instrument maker is an artist.
In spite of these ever-present artistic opportunities there are not enough artists… and it’s not for lack of desire but for lack of intention. Art is an attitude, analogous to meditation, it can be done anywhere. Everything is an act of creation for it manifests in our minds first and then through us into action. It is how we perform action that makes it a meditation, or art, or an uninspired task (a missed opportunity).
So what is art? Everything. What isn’t art? Everything, if you choose for it to be so.
Picasso said, “we are all born artists, the trick is to remain so as we grow up”. And I’m here to say that it’s never too late to return home. So draw a line, now draw another one with intention and thought and not the same as the last one – this is it.