ART OF THE NEW WORLD
Art is back in fashion. But this is not a marketing ploy, it is a vital necessity, the only possible way to survive. Art as a lifestyle, a way of thinking, an environment. Without him, without his atmosphere, everything loses its meaning. The prefix “ART” adds flavor to insipid everyday life. But what kind of spices they are and what taste they have remains unknown until the last moment. We cannot describe and predict it, and this is its value. That is why we cannot say what art should be, except that it is always amazing and unpredictable. And it fills our lives with impressions more and more, goes out into the streets, penetrates into business, fills leisure, becomes a connecting theme in relationships, transforms everyday life, because it is a sign of the presence of life.
Deserted, uninhabited, dull and monotonous space of emotions. Yes, such a picture appears when a person stops running, gets rid of the noise, emerges from the bustle of worries and deeds. Where it will be, how it will fill the void that has arisen. It is this undeveloped space that is reserved for art. An area of infinite variety of emotions and feelings, their correlations and shades. There are no usual rules here, it’s like in a dream, like in a parallel world, which is filled with a completely different content, a different quality, a different nature. Art is a medium, it is a kind of communication between people and between different worlds. It unites and connects, according to some other principles, according to a different logic, seemingly incompatible and incompatible. The role of art is to settle in, to revive, to fill the vital space with inhabitants, images, infrastructure, to become a guide, a guide to the world of the unknown.
Even if we accept that the issues of life support and physical survival are in the first place in the system of priorities, it is obvious that in our time, at least in a minimal form, they have been resolved by the majority of the inhabitants of the planet. Further, we observe different degrees of excess consumption, the purpose of which is the achievement of psychological comfort, through satisfaction and saturation. However, with this approach, in this race of consumption, in this permanent Olympiad of endless competitions, in this theater of social self-affirmation, comfort is practically unattainable. Reorientation of interest in the field of art, in the space of feelings, emotions, reflections, subtle sensations and impressions that are in no way connected with the satisfaction of possessive instincts – this is a universal and all-accessible way to achieve inner comfort. This is the path of personal development, a new level of thinking and existence. The future of people is either doomed to perish, while maintaining the current primitive model of life, or to move to a new level of consciousness, where the understanding of art plays a decisive role. Understanding art determines the level of development, a sign of a new race, a new civilization that carries other values and speaks a different language. In this space, satiety cannot arise, meaning cannot be lost, interest cannot cool, with each step it grows, becomes fuller and more diverse, sharpness of perception and insight become more acute.
In our time, a person who does not understand the role of art, does not feel this space, its questions, tasks, energies, its content, demonstrates its primitiveness and underdevelopment. And this visual primitiveness is incomparable with anything. It speaks of the lack of sensitivity, and the ability to realize the omnipresent presence of the sensory world. We cannot say this about animals or plants or even stones, but we can say with confidence about people who do not perceive art. And there are many such people. Many of them do not admit it, but by their choice, by their reactions, it is clear that they are not oriented at all, they do not feel or understand anything. This is not some kind of incurable diagnosis, this is a matter of ignorance and lack of training of the sensory apparatus. This is not talked about or taught, and therefore many could not guess for themselves, discover this ability in themselves, awaken it and realize what kind of world we live in and what invisible matter everything in it is connected with. These people look very ridiculous from the outside. It seems to them that they know everything, although they walk blindfolded, and are more like clockwork cars or characters of some global mechanical theater. Their thoughts and reactions are predictable, they do not carry secrets, they are not able to surprise. After all, the only way to live not according to prescribed scenarios is to follow your intuition, to swim in a stream of subtle matters, like a surfer, to catch the wave of the present moment and rush along it overflowing with admiration.
Immersion in the art world is like diving. Here and bewitching beauty, and dangers, and extremely useful and toxic. The art market is a huge pile of rubbish mixed with jewelry. No one should say which is art and which is simulation. The person, the viewer must understand and feel it himself. Otherwise, it doesn’t make any sense. And it’s very simple. Whether it fills, whether it gives something of a different quality, of a different nature, whether it becomes a revelation, a discovery, or vice versa, it devastates, spoils the mood, takes away strength, or simply does not give anything. There are perishable products, and there are those that only become more valuable over time, there are cut flowers, and there are seeds that grow into a tree, there are colorful tricks, and there are inconspicuous portals to other worlds. How to distinguish candy from an empty candy wrapper or garbage wrapped in a candy wrapper. This requires an insight that can be developed and which will always be useful in life in making decisions, in understanding the world, its undercurrents and hidden mechanisms. If you do not see the difference, then of course you will be offered garbage, and this will be quite logical. No art historian, let alone an art manager, can be a guide to the world of art. He can only push to self-study, show the first steps.
There are so many cases of suicide in the world, so many people launch a program of self-destruction into their lives. This is a symptom of a mismatch of expectations, the cause of which is a wrong perception of life. Alcoholism, drug addiction, and even extreme sports, all this is an escape from a misunderstood reality, a desire to make up for what is missing, to gain emotions and impressions that are missing in everyday life, or vice versa, an attempt to escape from it, turn off, forget. Others, on the contrary, try to become stronger, harden, kill the living in themselves, become a machine in order to go their way without suffering, doubts, placing themselves in a capsule that protects from life as such. Children are taught to be strong, to be tempered, to become adults, to live. This is a monstrous delusion. Tempering is a loss of sensitivity, it is an escape from life, a cowardly escape from what is the meaning of life. To live is to feel. To feel sharply, sensitively, voluminously, deeply, with all your being.
Art, as a definition, as a space, as a form of existence, is the environment that is as close as possible to real life, huge and filled with the unknown. And unlike any short-term and destructive stimulants, this environment nourishes, develops and grows in a cubic progression with each new step of immersion in it.
People of the near future will live only by art, and this is the only thing that will distinguish them from robots.
Sergey Sobolev [autotranslation]