How does art happen?
Art happens when a problem needs solved, when a question needs answered. Art uses ingenuity and research to respond to the times. In Rome, art happens when someone or some institution has enough money to commission it. I am an unpaid artist, but my art is still a solution.
Art in Rome: Show Me the Money
Typically, the money in Rome flows from the pockets of the papacy. The Roman Catholic Church was the largest benefactor of artworks during the Renaissance and throughout most of modern times. By commissioning masters like Michelangelo, Bernini and Raphael, the Church allowed art to happen. But, the Church did not make art happen, that was left up to the artists.
Within the times when the Church was just flexing its organizational and unification muscles, it hired artists to craft art that communicated power. The signs of the times being communicated by the Church were God is larger than us all and his power is manifest in this institution. That is why the cathedrals were towering, part awe inspiring, part power-play. One must remember that Christianity was persecuted before the rule of Constantine, so being able to commission artworks, the Church not only wanted to answer the question: who are the Catholics?, but, also wanted to express the religion that could not publicly exist for hundreds of years. God answered prayers, and the Church used architectural and classical art as a solution to express that.
Answering Civic Questions
Artworks in Rome transcend religious works. Michelangelo not only crafted the Sistine Chapel, but the Coronata, a set of stairs that made Capitoline Hill easily accessible by horseback. Stairs are a common solution needed during the times of Rome’s expansion. The Spanish Steps are another piece of art that solved the problem of connecting the church to Piazza di Spagna. Then there is the architectural solution for making twin churches on asymmetrical plots of land. Artist’s work can found in Piazza del Popolo. These artistic feats of ingenuity answer questions of city planning and function.
Modern Questions
This is the art of the past which has brought us to new social commentary, answered not by stairs or fountains, but by more questions, posed by definitive words and pictures. I have been consistently frustrated with Rome’s ancient art. It is humbling to stand in front of a sculpture that is from hundreds of centuries before the Common Era, but I miss art that not only represents the time it came from, but challenges the power that Roman art has been commission to represent. Today, some art forges solution for city planning, whilst others forge ahead to tackle questions of oppression, dogma and what it means to be human today.
Spanish Art Has My Heart
To me, art happens when man expresses himself, and by doing so, puts his neck on the line. I love the art movements of the past century, including artists who spear-headed them like Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. A beautiful picture means nothing to me, give me a Picasso sketch that looks like a child drew it, and let me explore his revolutionary statements contained in the lead his pencil. I love to see how Dali bends reality, stretches us to the limit, and then leaves us to deal with the recoil. Art happens when it is prompted, and, in my opinion, the best art happens when money isn’t the impetus. Picasso, as an aging millionaire, was putting oil to canvas the night before he died. That is art happening. That is when the line between living and creating has been erased by broken pencils, turpentine and splattering paints.
How Art Happens for Me
For me, art happens from a prompt. Sometimes I ruminate on the artists before me, especially some of my favorites noted above, other times I must seek an answer to a question I have posed, or others have posed to me. Other times, art happens when I am internally prompted, it’s not quantifiable question, it’s just an innate need to pick up a pen and write down answers, and more questions. I like to plan, but I also like spontaneity in my creative pieces. Art happens depending on the time, the moment when it begins. This journal is art to me. The computer I type it on is a piece of art. Some may even say the fingers that tick away on the keys are works of art. I do have a flair for the revolutionary, but I must admit that I see art in everything. I get frustrated with Roman art, but I still see that it happened and that it continues propels art forward. I have gone to the Coliseum and seen students with cameras capturing an artistic angle, I have been to the Uffizi and seen a young woman sketching the view out the window, and I have sat on the train and written about the ruins on the Roman aqua ducts that line our journey into Termini Station.
Art is a solution. Art happens when one is needed. Luckily, the world is full of endless questions.
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| [Salvador Dali] |
