A Paper Cut That Heals

Yesterday my wife and I went to see the David Hockney portrait exhibit that has been showing at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Whenever we have a reason to go to LA we almost always include a stop at LACMA. It’s always worthwhile.

I don’t have much if any artistic ability in me, at least none that’s surfaced. My creative impulses have been confined to being able to turn a clever phrase from time to time. Microsoft Word is the only paint and palette I employ. Word pictures are good and I have a few of them in my portfolio, so I don’t mean to diminish the value and power of the written word. But, they’re not paintings or sculptures or any of the other myriad of visual arts that make someone stand transfixed in front of them and whisper, “That’s amazing” to themselves and to anyone around who will listen.

Okay, that’s not entirely true, either. A lot of people have stood transfixed before an orator delivering the written word in a way that stuns the listener to the core. And many of us have sat in a chair late at night and found ourselves moved deeply by what we’re reading. But, still, the written word doesn’t have museums and galleries built to house the creative genius among us. We build libraries for that. Libraries are nice and all … but … well … you know.

Obviously, I’m one of those people who admires the genius and talent that others have, while simultaneously discounting any ability, nascent or developed, that I may have. But, here’s a test that I think would underscore the point of the comparison: survey a group of outstanding writers and ask them if they long to possess the ability to express themselves in either a visual or a performing art. I suspect close to 100% would say, yes, they do. Then, go survey a group of outstanding visual or performing artists and ask them if they long to possess the ability to express themselves in written word. I suspect close to 100% would say, not particularly, I have my art.

My failings at the written word are evident in the fact that it often takes me more than a half a page of words to get around the to point I want to make. I get too much paint on my canvas too early in process. My point is that the visual and performing arts are absolutely essential to our quality of life. They are an expression of the best impulses in the human spirit. They uplift; they clarify; they transform; and they guide us to places we haven’t been before. They make explorers out of anyone who is willing to board the artist’s ship and make the offered journey.

This posting was prompted by my wife sending me a website for an artist who has created things of beauty from paper cuttings. What child hasn’t experimented with paper cutouts? This man simply decided not to give it up. The site is: http://www.oncotton.co.uk/peter/index.html. It’s an example of the myriad of means of artistic expression that can gently take us captive and speak to us in ways that words cannot.

I would like to try an experiment: take a group of angry men, with a few hateful ones in the mix, and have them spend the day in the Louvre, the Prado, the NYC Metropolitan or any other world-class art museum. Clear out all the other people and let these men spend their day alone with the art. I believe that at the end of the day they will emerge with significantly diminished anger or hatred, if not missing it altogether. Art transforms us. The alchemy of art morphs anger into awe. Art provides a means for the constructive expression of emotions that we otherwise express destructively.

Heck, forget the world-class art museums and just see what happens to an angry man when he stands in front of a refrigerator door recently decorated with the art created by his five-year old daughter. Watch his face change. In that moment, there’s another door presented to that man. He may not choose to open it and step into an altered life, but the opportunity is there.

Anyone who sees the incredible potentiality in art should examine and then challenge the fact that funding for art and music programs in public education is disappearing in America. As a country we’ve decided to invest not just first and foremost in English, math and science, but almost exclusively. When the funding pressure hits a school district, the first things jettisoned over the side of the sinking ship are the art and music programs. I don’t for a second mean to suggest that English, math and science aren’t core courses essential to a good education. I mean to suggest that art and music are just as essential to the development of our core.

After viewing the artist’s site mentioned above, I told my wife that it’s a great example of what artists bring to our lives, and that it points out how unfortunate it is that we don’t adequately fund art in public education in America. Anyone whose life is not being enriched by art is living poorly, and people in America should not be living poorly. This is a form of poverty that we should fight against.

But even if our politicians don’t properly balance educational funding for our children, there remains a rich repository of art in the world for us and our children to explore. Fortunately, there are museums, galleries, websites and refrigerator doors galore. May they forever be a central part of our lives. May they forever transform us. May they forever turn anger into awe. May they forever enrich us. And may they forever give us another door to step through so that we can discover a better life.