Art Is Dead...

Art is dead.  It is dead in its historical context of painting and sculpture.  It is dead in its historical context of purveyor of awe.  It is dead in its historical context of significant purpose to culture.  It is dead in its loss of contemporary humans attuned to its harmony.  It is dead in its relevancy.  Am I a alarmist, a pessimist, delusional, arrogantly opinionated or a honest artist?  I believe all of this because I love art and see it as sacred and a crucial part of humanity.  The complexity of the human beings “attention essence”, our ability to be attentive, has become so complex that Art must become that which can harmonize with equal complexities tuned to this ever-increasing new attentiveness.  Humans are increasingly lacking in the historical understanding of attentiveness, that ability to have prolonged contemplation and/or focus, and are instead finding new ways to be attentive.  As artist we must understand this and create in ways that can harmonize with this new viewer.  Old understandings of art must die because the viewer it once talked to no longer exist.  To continue to create in the same manner, as even the recent past is to accept irrelevancy but sadder still, too fail to make Art.  It is a very difficult task but no true artist has ever walked into their studio with anything other than overwhelming awe from the idea, “I must create a work of Art!” and there is where I find meaning to being.  Art is alive. 

Union Art student Skylar Gregory's work on understanding
the Divine nature of Form.