Art as part of life

“The purpose of art as well as nature is to help man. Nature is already perfect, but the function of art is a ritual to help “imperfect” men become identical with this perfect nature. While the perfect nature is always aesthetic, meaning fully alive, man is often inaesthetic, meaning not experiencing directly, really lifeless, enslaved by the thinking and feeling diseases of his psyche... the aim to present man, not man instead of nature, but man identical with perfect nature, that is man at his very best, real, alive and free.”

   -  Erick Hawkins (American Modern Dancer & Choreographer)

Had there been no connection between the heart and the art, or for that matter, had there been no term called ‘heart’ at all, there would not have been any entertainment industry, there would not have been any question of aesthetics, there would not have been millions of cases of depression, suicides and there would not have been a LIFE! What is life? Is life merely to exist? No! Since times immemorial, man has been trying to make his life better and better both technologically and aesthetically. Leading a purposeful and aesthetic life is only restricted to human beings over other animals. But we, instead of feeling blessed, are doomed and making our lives miserable. Today, art is seen as an alienated entity and being an artiste is not normal. Is being an artiste really not normal? Who is called an artiste? Any man with a heart is an artiste. Yes! If you can appreciate the pauses and silence in your busy life, if you can feel the rhythm of your heart, if you can imagine the dancing of your thoughts, if you can relish immersing with the flow of nature and if you can appreciate the beauty of being different, yes! You are an artiste. Living the life is an art and having taste for, and imbibing arts like dance, music, poetry, painting in your life is a blessing. For our ancestors, art (performing art) is a part and parcel of their lives. Their lives are filled with the grandeur of art. But today, performing arts, especially traditional arts are only seen as the traces of our heritage without having a value of purpose. They are exhibited in the craft melas and heritage festivals as the traces of legacy. We watch them with awe and amusement but forget them as soon as we come home. Often, artistes themselves forget the artistic value of their art in the race of winning their bread. This is the reason why we find many artistes go to extremes being either too sensitive or insensitive. Artistes are seen as a separate entity altogether (Good or Bad). Often artistes are considered as ignorant beings and are understood that they don’t know anything other than their art. On the other side of the coin, they are praised and worshipped as Gods and Goddesses. This either takes them to the false prestige zone or throws them into depression and leads to many other problems. One of my friends gave me a funny statement. She asked “You dancers are very emotional. You don’t think with your brains. No logics. All colours and dreams.” Then I said “We are creative to showcase and reflect the life of the world. We only use our talent to show to existing emotions of the common man. And we apply all the branches of science to choreograph a piece, Psychology (to read audience’s mind), Maths and Physics (To manage your body weight, stage and spacing), History (to know the facts and use it as our literature) etc what other logic you didn’t see that we didn’t apply ? ”. This gap between the artistes and audience is because of viewing art as a separate entity. Of course, the perspectives are changing. Art appreciation courses are being widely introduced. People are trying to change their life style and bring back the artistic value into their lives. This sensitive way of transformation can make this world harmonious with the nature and will make it a better place to live. Come! Let us make Art as part of our life and learn the art of living.