Meaning of Life... Meaning of Art

I recall from my days in Jr. High that Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy claimed the answer to the ultimate question regarding the meaning of life was “42”. Just as it would have in real life; that answer left characters in the book scratching their heads. It wasn’t so much that “42” was the wrong answer as it was the fact that the question was flawed. When you think about it… how much more vague can you get with a question like – “What is the meaning of life?” Whose life? Whose point of reference for the very concept of “meaning”? Allusions of importance for one person could be far from meaningful for another. The same holds true for valuing the relevance of art in each person’s life.

Yesterday, my mother called and after a few minutes of awkward conversation with sporadic moments of silence – she asked her usual question. “So, are you getting tired of painting yet?”

I never attended a museum or gallery before I left home for college. I don’t believe my family had anything against art; so much as it was irrelevant to the southern Missouri lives we led. The Marines famously have the following “code” of importance:

1. Unit
2. Corps
3. God
4. Country

In the world which I was raised, there was another certain standard for importance:

1. God
2. Family
3. Republican Party
4. Country

The world I’ve created for my own life follows yet another path:

1. Knowledge
2. Art
3. Family

I’ve only come-up with three so far and I admit my ratings seem somewhat reversed as opposed to what should be most important to me. Therefore, I have to ask – “what should be my number four?” Would my final choice force me to reevaluate life and possibly realign my choices in a manner that makes more sense for a husband and father? I naturally just view my children as these great little people that ultimately have their own lives to live, just as I do. If I choose not to do anything adventurous with my life during the twenty or so years they are living with me… well, that’s my fault, not their’s. I remember an incident a few years back when I was still a gallery director – this artist came in to discuss the pro’s and con’s of diving into the print market and he inevitably turned the conversation towards his two children. He even finished the discussion with the cliché “well, my kids are the greatest work of art I’ve ever made”. Although I just replied with a smile and nod; I immediately thought well at least your happy with them, because your paintings of flowers and puppies kinda suck.

As far as “other influences” in my life, I’ve tried out the “God-factor”, unfortunately so far it really hasn’t worked for me. I can’t imagine a higher-being that would lower itself enough to care about or engage in the bullshit politics of our country. Not to mention I have trouble buying into any religious group that claims to have the market cornered on the concept of afterlife. Fundamentalism just doesn’t have wings enough to fly for me, anymore. I’m not closed to idea of God, I definitely welcome it… I just have trouble with ideas like heaven and hell when they seem to be in place to offset the importance of living for the moment (ethically, of course – one can have ethics without group worship).

Meaning is a touchy subject when it comes to art. Do we make it because we need to explore? Do we make it because we need to escape? What motivates patrons? Is it the beauty of an individual piece or the opportunity to own the brief essence of the artist? – DN