Discussion at Jenny’s today.

Start with this article.

Here’s a little of what I had to say:

What this article made me think of was an experience from my 1st year in college. I was going to a lowly state university to study art. I went to visit a friend who was going to Cal-Arts and watched a video of his film class’ final projects for the semester. The first thing I saw was hard core porn–I immediately screamed “this is NOT art!!” and was laughed at by all the “real” artists there. I cried for weeks in anger, confusion…What was art anyway?

I had a teacher that said “Art is the symptom of a soul.” That has stuck with me, has been a part of my psyche ever since. Not only that, I think art is a reflection of the soul. It is a window to what the artist values and even sees in his/her own soul and what we are as human beings, where we’re connected or separated, where we come from.

I think an artist’s sense of who they/we are, where they/we came from, what the purpose of life is, whether or not there is a God is where their art comes from.

Art for the express purpose to offend or desecrate what other’s find sacred is a reflection of their view of the sanctity of of humanity itself.

I think that is a comment on our current culture. Is anything sacred?

There are lots of good comments to get you thinking. Get in on the fun!