I don’t think art has to be groundbreaking. It certainly can be, but that is not the basis of creation, or at least it shouldn’t be. There seems to be a shift in priorities in the world of art, through every medium, that sees artists trying to be original rather than making the art they want. Everyone is trying to be fresh and new and exciting, and I think we seem to be forgetting what the point of art is in the first place. It is grounded in honesty and vulnerability, but uniqueness continues to be desired far more.
A lot of this push for originality is heavily influenced by art consumption. A perfect example of this can be seen in the “reheating nachos” trend, in which people accuse artists of recreating their or another artist’s previous work. No one is immune to wanting to see something new and different, but it’s this hypercritical lens that is killing creativity itself. It causes artists to feel pressured to, instead of making the art they want, focus on making one-of-a-kind art.
At the end of the day, we are living in the 21st century, and human beings have been creating art for many millennia. The point being is, I think it is nearly impossible to make art that is completely original or unlike anything we’ve seen before. Even if you’re not an artist yourself, as an art consumer, instead of looking for something you’ve never seen before, you can ask yourself, “Does this art speak to me?” As with every piece of art/media, it may not, but that doesn’t invalidate it. If it doesn’t apply, let it fly.
The beautiful thing about art is that it’s not going to reach or be understood by absolutely everyone. As connected as we all are, we are also very different with diverse life experiences, and the message that an artist is trying to convey with their work may feel like your soul is being spoken to or it could go completely over your head. To put it in the simplest terms, this really speaks to the idea that those who get it get it, and those who don’t don’t. This applies to every work of art that exists, and it allows us to find the specific works that speak to our unique souls.
What I love most about art is how unnecessary it is, technically speaking. As human creatures, art is not necessary for our survival as a species, and yet it developed as we evolved. Why? Human beings grew to be so complex that we created new mediums to communicate our emotions and life experiences to each other. This is the basis of art. The point of art, even, is to answer the headline. To bear our souls to each other in ways that only we can individually.
Art is unnecessary, yet it has the capacity to change the world. This is the miracle and beauty of humanity, as bleak as our society can seem sometimes. Art will always be there, being seen and heard and taught and repeated and remade and replicated forever and ever. Creativity is such a gift, and yet it can be so easily wasted on trying to make something that has never been made before. I’d much rather see art that is honest and vulnerable than art that is solely trying to be different.