An immortal work of art is just a fragment of history, plucked from the natural world. An emotive artist, stops the flow of time, freezes the moment, and steals away a fragment of it, only to revive and create a special life and time for this escape from reality. As I begin this discourse, it will be good to indicate that the views herein are my own standpoint and observations.
Art is a process of harnessing creativity, imagination, spirituality, and emotion, using techniques and tools to communicate its message through form, shape, line, texture, tone, value and color. In a painting, the characteristic of the subject matter can be deemed beautiful by a certain audience at a certain time, but in another, this might shift. For example, at one time a chubby girl would be deemed extremely beautiful, like in the case of Mona Lisa painting. But in the present modern day, the slender, girl has replaced the analogy. Her lengthened necked and tall physique is now deemed elegantly beautiful. But that is just one way of seeing it. On another platform. We see an example of Michelangelo’s David; a marble sculpture, deemed the most famous in the whole world, whose finesse instantly earned a commentary from the great Leonardo da Vinci and Giorgio Vasari. The sculpture, measuring 17 feet high and nearly 6000 kilos was in its time moved twice without damage. At the heart of Florence where it stood, it encountered hostilities from the public as well as natural causes, but managed to stand the test of times. This great achievement by Michelangelo, in representing the body, became the benchmark and the standard for measuring artistic genius.
As we see, the spirituality on emotional or psychological and intellectual aspects of an artwork, either carries along for generation or doesn’t. This is the timelessness of art that every artist hopes to be outlived by. The survivability of an art piece, amid the diverse adversities of time, either appreciate it or depreciate into oblivion like some of the sculptures by the great Leonardo. A good example is a bronze sculpture, which over time appreciates its patina, accommodates different temperatures, withstands wars and even if thrown into the sea for hundreds of years, can highly deter corrosion. Unless you throw it into lava, but who would do so? These have been proven facts even though the sculpture of David was marble, it was also well maintained.
The substance of timeless art, is one that not only transcends a people’s beliefs and meanings, but also cultures and demographics. It resonates with its audience differently, irregardless of color, language, age or purpose. At the very point of impact, it embellishes different meanings, undertakings and experiences that mark the epiphany of one’s unforgettable memories.
The fate of modern art as compared to contemporary, sounds very certain, this is due to the diverse materials that liberal artists use, which include some very precarious and transient. The traditional art, was and is, overwhelmingly dependable and predictably able to last more centuries. The modern approach to sculpture creation, is not constrained on the limits of the material, which then of course demands extra care and preservation in order to compete for the timelessness with the contemporary thus giving more hope to creativity.
Art’s true worth, lies in the ability to endure over time without losing its legacy or historical importance. This signifies it cannot be equated to a common commodity such as a slice of pizza, or a bottle of Coke. And it’s the basic reason why the price of art is relatively steady in the financial markets. For example, contemporary arts vary substantially in price and value, depending on the artist or the art critic whose intellectual interpretation and contribution validates its value and relevance, although we must always remember, that such criticism is influenced by popular trends and by society’s constant accumulation and consumption of information and depictions or images.
Only the yearn for human sympathy and admiration, bigger than his appetite for things, we believe could motivate and inspire such any young artist, to produce authentic art of such magnificent proportions. But suppose, at that moment an artist falls in love with something, and decides to embark on his journey to express his emotion in a work of art. Then the question that mostly arise, is of great importance. Is he in love with the daily natural appearance of things? Or shall we say, in love with their potential to become? The first is the origin of realism, while the second is the origin of idealism in art.
Artists eternize history, by answering and heeding to the call of nature, that beckons their emotions into a beautiful moment, which they then document as a story in a creative work of art. In that moment of total bliss, visions are secretly launched and planted in his emotions, which in their ripen time, are forced to surrender and embrace the artists feelings, releasing themselves to live within the framework of creative art for an eternity. This epitomizes the reason why African countries should request the repatriation of their valuable and priceless pieces of art, stolen during the colonial periods. These pieces have found exotic spaces and unrivaled attention, yet their spirit cries of motherland.
Edit by Kimiti Kamande
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