Does life really imitate art?
Since I first laid my eyes on a piece of fine art, I have truly wondered if life imitates art or if art actually imitates life. I look at artists as social thermostats for society. We can see exactly what is occurring in the world reflected in the works of practicing artists, all with slight details that give specific examples that show us how other people see the world from a different perspective. Life is art, and art is life, so if one in the same does either imitate the other or is life and art in a constant tango, In 1889, Writer Oscar Wilde said that art impacts the way we look at life. Are artists actually just taking screenshots of life that we overlook? Is art and life just a difference of perspective? So people feel that their lives lack wanderlust, but what about the arts that are in coveted collections? Is that lacking something, or does it represent glimpses of life?
One thing I have gathered from studying art history is that progressive overload is important. Art movements don’t just occur; they are the result of compound trial and error. Art is a social concept, like life, art cannot exist without mankind, and mankind in turn inevitably creates art. From cave drawings to doodles to distract young children from “boring” subject matter, art is expression with fancy fashionings.
We know for a fact that artists are inspired by the world around them, but does life seek to create these moments that don’t need words? Art is the most widespread language among mankind. Why can two strangers, who cannot speak the same language look at a work and evoke the same emotion? Because they see something that intrinsically exists in us as human beings.
This question that we ask, “Does art imitate life”, speaks to what we cannot see. Art is the physicality of mental thoughts occurring in an artist's brain. The production of art and the artists inspired by those pieces create a dialogue in our society. How often do you look at art? How often do you reflect on your emotions? Artistic expression and interpretation are fundamental aspects of our society. Plato says that all art is mimetic by nature. Everything we do every day is influenced by something. When you look at art movements, you know that contemporary art has direct influences from previous art movements.
Respectively, art and life are two different executions of the same foundation.
XOXO
The Curatorial Blonde
