Why Do We Create Art?
Why Do We Create Art?
This is a great, and surprisingly thought provoking question:
Art in any form (paintings, sculptures, theater, music, poetry, movies, novels, etc) is something that almost all humans enjoy.
But even though art has existed for thousands of years, our ancestors certainly weren’t artists to survive... they were hunters, gatherers, fishers, etc.
Since art doesn’t help anyone who’s not a professional artist to survive, why do we create it? And, believe me, art is a tough gig!
Humans go a step further than creating art… we apply “art” to things like war, food, business, sex, etc. [The Art of War, The Art of the Deal, The Art of Seduction, etc, etc, etc.). Things that are only supposed to keep us alive have now become “art forms” (for example, instead of eating whatever we can find, we spend a ton of effort via cooking shows, cookbooks, etc. to create a delicious, beautiful meal).
We definitely enjoy and create art & beauty, but why? Aristotle thought that happiness was the purpose of life, and that art (both enjoying and creating it) was an attempt to reach that goal. (ok, I swiped the Aristotle thing from somewhere, but I can no longer find my source!)
Aristotle suggests that enjoying the evocative beauty in art is an innate desire of humans. We all desire happiness and art makes us happy.
But... why are we the only creatures on the earth that create art? Why does the source of our happiness lie in human’s creative nature to make art (music, literature, movies, poetry, painting, etc. etc.)? and not merely in the natural world that already exists ?
I don’t have that answer! What are your thoughts?