PATRICIA VOIGT
FINE ARTS COLUMNIST
You know what many people fail to realize? We are all artists in our own right. Okay, so not everyone pursues art as a full-time career, but we are all attracted to beauty in some form or another.
You don’t have to be a painter, dancer, or novelist to have a little artist in you. Just because you don’t create art doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate it or that it won’t have an effect you. One of the biggest examples of humanity’s innate artistry (no matter how small) is our love of music.
There’s classical, rock, swing, heavy metal, pop, hip-hop, techno, lyrical, country, world, jazz, and many more genres that can appeal to every type of person. Some have that one style that they will always and only listen to, while others love multiple genres. Either way, we all listen to some form of music.
The beauty in music is that there’s something for everyone of every background and culture. Someone’s favorite song says a lot about who she is and possibly, if there are lyrics, what she’s experienced in life. I suppose, even then, a song doesn’t necessarily need lyrics for it to artistically reveal a person’s experiences.
No one is immune to the power music wields. Think about some of your favorite movies, and then think about the scores for those films … do they not help create the mood? I know that for me, music has a huge impact on my like or dislike of a movie.
One of the reasons I fell in love with The Hunger Games movie series (though I still prefer the books) is because the music was spot on. It brought me in and kept me there in the moments of joyous, depressing, or frightening scenes. The same can be said for many other movies such as, the Harry Potter series, Lord of the Rings, Schindler’s List, and The Passion of the Christ, just to name a few obvious ones.
Music is a strong core for most other art forms. Imagine a film without good soundtrack or score. Try watching a ballet or any form of dance without the music that fills the dancer(s) with movement. It doesn’t work.
I, for one, would love to know all the science on how music affects our brains. Why do certain songs make our minds feel as though the neurons are rapid firing with emotions, images, and craziness? And it’s not even that it just affects our minds, but also our souls. Perhaps that’s a little too cheesy, but I’m sure that you all can relate.
The way your favorite song makes you feel taps into the artist in you. If you let the song carry you away into a world of imagination, even if it’s not super vivid, you have entered a world of pure artistry. Never mind if you can barely draw stick figures or you dance like an awkward baby deer! There are others which are gifted with those abilities and should be crafting them to their fullest. While you may have other gifts, you can still receive art in a beautiful way.
Music fulfills the one of the biggest requirements of art. That is, to tell a story and speak truth. It also falls into the category of arts that can defy the boundaries of language.
Even if someone can’t understand the lyrics of song, they still feel the song within their core. Bones shudder with the horror of a scary song, hearts melt in the movement of a sweet love song, souls rejoice in the flight of a happy ballet, and bodies move in the craziness of an upbeat dance worthy song.
Music is a weakness for even the hardest of hearts. That is certainly something that we artists strive for in our work. Now that is some powerful stuff right there. So turn up your favorite song and release the little artist in you!