I chose to comment on Young-Ha Kim’s lecture “Be An Artist Right Now.” Young Ha Kim is a writer. He is also a teacher. I’m not really sure about his writing, but his lecture about art in general was inspiring so I wanted to discuss this one.
He began the lecture by telling the audience that we are all artists. He talks about when we are young we draw, act-out, and sing without fears and premeditated thoughts. Just pure, organic creativity. As we get older, we start to lie to our parents and make up stories - although that may be premeditated - we are still being creative and becoming story tellers. With art, he uses the example of how kids play in the sand. We build sand castles, mountains, dogs etc and even though it’ll get washed away by the waves, we still enjoy creating them. Kim says “kids make art because they want to, not because they being told to.”
He gives a few examples of contemporary art; Picasso’s Bull Head and Duchamp’s Fountain. Kim explains that “contemporary art is about doing something weird and filling the void with explanation and interpretation.” Leaving us with Picasso’s famous quote, “I draw not what I see, but what I feel.”
He believes that artistic impulses become suppressed inside us but don’t go away. When people are asked why they want to become an artist, writer, singer, actor etc, the answer is usually just about being creative. “Art is the ultimate goal. It saves our soul and makes us happy.” When people ask me why I wanted to go back to school, My answer is - just for fun! “I always wanted a BFA. I wanted to immerse myself in art, and the timing was right.”
Kim ended the lecture with a story about a famous dancer Marcia Graham. Someone once asked her how they can become a great dancer. Her answer was “Just Do It.” So with art as well, he said to "not suppress the child artist inside us - just take risks and do it!"
I was very inspired by his lecture. I can surely speak for myself, but I put too much thought into the art i want to create. Perhaps I should try to find the young artists in me and create with fear, thoughts, or hesitation...
