Which came first? Science or art?
Art Thought #1
Creating art has been around for a long time. Longer than the scientific process we all hold in such high regards these days. It is said that art-making is one of the oldest known forms of human behavior. Art predates writing, helping prehistoric humans solve the problems of their world. Both science and art strive for similar things in that way. The quest for knowledge, the simplifying, quantifying, abstracting observable data. I teach art history at the high school level, this bridging of academia doesn’t come easily to students or teachers-in fact, most would say these two spheres of human behavior couldn’t be further apart. I am here to advocate the opposite.
Art is a part of the human experience, of all humans. Whether you take an art class in high school or not. You are surrounded by visual stimuli that has been curated specifically for the times we are living in. Visual literacy of such stimuli and the analysis that is formed is a part of learning how humans come to understand complex processes. So when you tell me, or anyone, that you are not “creative” or can “barely draw a stick figure” you are ignorantly reducing the idea of art, and proliferating the idea that in a humans hierarchy of needs, it is completely unnecessary. Out of all human achievements, art is hands down one of the most intellectual, complex, and diverse ones.
If you believe in Darwin’s idea of natural selection then I can ask you the question: if art is not necessary, why has it survived? Can art-making be considered as an evolved predisposition? Why and how then has it filled our valuable lives best lived to survive our surroundings? Is the behavior an adaptive form of play to survive, or a way to attract mates to procreate? A means of emotional expression? Why in the ever loving heck do we make art?
Art was here first. Before writing, before history, before science or psychology. Why does it remain….and why is it’s presence is such a mystery. How come it’s significance has been demoted in education today to the “extra” - the unimportant in comparison to science or history courses? How can I change your mind, let alone society’s mind…in the imperative study of the arts? How can I convince you that you ARE already creative just by the fact of being human?
