Human art for humanity’s sake

L‘art pour l’art ~ Art for art’s sake. A philosophy that emerged from late 19th century France. The idea was that people can make art just because it is wonderful.

Now that we have artificial intelligence many artists are wondering if we are going to be out of a job, or worse a purpose, a role, and identity as creators. Nick Cave put it well in a letter to a fan about using ai to write songs. He states that ai is fast tracking commodifying human creativity, ingraining a concept that human creativity is not needed anymore. Why would anyone pay an artist for a creation when a machine can create in seconds? Why toil on an idea when you can feel like an accomplished creator by typing in a few seed words and having a machine produce a master work in the blink of an eye?

I believe as the French of the late 19th century that we need art and creativity for the sake of creating because it is wonderful. Not only that, we need creativity to tune into our own selves, our souls, and our spirits. It is a well known fact that being creative is a great outlet to improve mental health. Even just a scribble or humming a tune can reduce the stress hormone cortisol.

When we buy a piece of art from an artist we buy their thoughts, their time and their interactions with their material. Many artists will tell you they can never get enough compensation to cover what they put into their creations. Bringing home a hand made piece and enjoying it is an act of reciprocity. Google search gives us this definition:

It’s reciprocal in nature to buy and bring home art because the creator not only is compensated, they also have the joy of knowing their work is enjoyed. For a buyer of art, they support their community near or far and enjoy the benefit of having the thoughts and love made physical in their living space.

Regardless of whether a piece of art is for sale or not, the act of creating is an act that supports the wellbeing of humanity as a whole. More fulfilled, relaxed and reflective people foster the wellbeing of a healthy and compassionate