We have run off the rails. They are gone… or are they?

I’m talking about the decorative role that has been assigned to art. By art, I mean its broader definition as creative activity. There are still great artists, but their work does not seem to be as important to society as was in time gone by.

I’m not going to try to get into definitions, because I’m sure any attempt I make at them will fall short. What I do mean to assert is that art, whatever it is, has been demoted.

Yet we are surrounded by beautiful modern design. Elegant cars, buildings and things of all shapes and sizes. Yes, there is creativity everywhere, polished and shiny. We hear music designed to lull us into submissive compliance wherever we go. But, it’s primarily decorative. You may argue about the utility and eye-pleasing role of elegant technical design. OK you got me, not just decorative, but is it truly art?

I’m not an art critic or an art connoisseur by any measure. I’m sure for the discerning and inquisitive types there is as much gold in the hills as they can explore, but it is in the hills, out of common view and hearing.

If civilisation is a train, then the locomotive and carriages are our technology and social structures. In current times role of art is confined to decoration of the train and entertainment of the passengers. I say this is not art’s proper place.

The role of art should be to inform where the tracks take us. Artists should be helping us ponder where they should go. The engineers have run amok. They are building faster and bigger trains, but why? Where do we want to go?

I don’t say art is unavailable, just unimportant and its lack of importance has pushed it to the side. As available as it is, it is nevertheless absent. This is hurting us because art creates community, brings out our humanity, takes us to new places, opens our hearts and validates our feelings, but it is missing for us. We are beginning to live more and more like robots. The more robotic we become, the less we miss art. The less we miss it, the more robotic we become.

I love technology, but without art it serves to dehumanise us, regulate us. If we aren’t careful, it will eventually devour us. The singularity is coming… fast.

We don’t need art present in our world just for the sake of the artistically superior. We need it for everyone. Every community should pride itself on the quality and uniqueness of its art and the quality and availability of resources devoted to it.

It’s not because I am some snooty fine arts graduate that I write this. We need art back in our streets, in our cafes and in our houses. We need the orators, poets, folk singers, eccentrics, clowns, actors, dancers, drummers and strummers. We need the painters, sketchers and sculptors. We need more venues, competitions and showcases, because art makes us human.