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I have just read an article of the same title that made me think about this topic...

I have just read an article of the same title that made me think about this topic. What the author says revolves around five points: people may interpret the art message according to their personal view; people can enjoy an artwork without understanding its message; an explicit message is not necessary; people (and specifically artists) are complicated and so are their messages; messages can be overdone. I see the author’s point yet my reflection brought me somewhere else.

Everybody looks for a message that is attached to the artwork. Well, the news is the artwork IS the message. All we do, make, say, choose, refuse, act, think, ponder, wear, buy, listen to, watch, eat, draw, paint, write, read and perform is a message, even if we are conscious of that or not. We are who we are in whatever we do, in public or in private. Everything of us speaks of ourselves. Our choices come from ourselves, describe ourselves, and define ourselves with respect to others. It is like an outline that identifies us from the blank page. So, we are the message and the content of the message and the artwork conveying it, to the peace of all the critics looking for apparent and hidden messages.

In this respect, the choice we must face with open eyes and hearts is: what kind of message do we want to give the world with our life and art? Specifically, how can we discriminate on what bases we say what is good and what is bad? What is beautiful and what is ugly? But, most of all, why do we choose to give that particular message?

As far as I am concerned, since I live from the “Do unto others as they do unto you “ perspective, on my part I want and strive to give a message of calm, relaxed attention, vivid but rational attitude and positive change. It does me good and I know it makes the others good too. I do not want to be responsible for polluting my environment with bad stuff, negative thoughts, worse acts and foul messages, just like I do not want to receive bad stuff, negative thoughts, worse acts and foul messages from others. Maybe it is because my health is not good and my nature is such that I am easily overwhelmed by negativity, which I perceive as aggression, it does not matter.   

It took years to become the person I am now. I look at myself and see a better person, a stronger person, a braver, more determined person with more solid principles and this is of great comfort to me. I cling to my values as something that is inseparable from me: they are mine and I am theirs to the extent that we do not harm anybody and look at the natural world with awe and wonder and pleasure. Of course, I am far from perfect: I am sometimes lazy, I am not the most agreeable person when it comes to past personal relationships and principles matters, I get offended easily and I tend to defend myself with lèse-majesté poses. I know. I know and I try to do my best not to be that way. Yet my aim – my message! – is always the same: never to soil, never to offend intentionally, never to give up.

From that a simple comment to the article I mentioned at the beginning comes: yes, it is true that  people may interpret the art message according to their personal view, people can enjoy an artwork without understanding its message, an explicit message is not necessary, people (and specifically artists) are complicated and so are their messages and messages can be overdone but, since we are the messages, we are responsible for it.