Embracing The Intangible Things

 In Ornamentation

I came across this sculpture when I was strolling in the park and it sparked my feelings for writing this post. I thought back about the days when I was a child, wanting so much to be a creative, an artist; doodling stick figures in the beginning and drawing and mimicking comic book artists in my teens. As an adult, I dedicated my time in pursuit of being a digital artist, working and sharing my works in the animation industry.

Today I am sharing my art in photography on this site at no costs to you, although it costs me an arm and a leg. The reason I am doing this is beyond the logic I have for myself, I guess it might just simply be out of love.

Most of my life have been dedicated to creating art in the hopes of making someone else happy. Hopefully my joy of creating and sharing this piece of myself with you will bring some joy into your life. We only have so much time left to dedicate ourselves to something we love and believe in.

Being an artist myself, I have a soft spot for all artists. I really do. Creatives, inventors, painters, musicians, singers, writers, illustrators, you name it—they all have it tough.

“The intangible represents the real power of the universe. It is the seed of the tangible.”

Bruce Lee

There are two things in life we think about, one is survival and the other is expression. We want to live comfortably and at the same time we want our life to mean something.

Unless you are born with a silver spoon, most probably surviving is all that you think about. You have to think about the next meal, even if it is not for you, your family, spouse and children needs to eat. The difficulty then becomes how you can cope with making a living and create at the same time? It becomes tough, very tough, because the space from which you create does not go well with the space of anxiety and numbness of making a living—that is why there is a term called starving artist.

There are exceptions but usually artists are not very good business person. There is a simple reason because artists require a lot of energy in drawing from the creative realm of the intangibles, they are exhausted by the time they are done creating. When they recuperate, they have to move on to the next fleeting idea. This idea, creative vision and art has no concrete form until it is written or painted down on canvas, even then it is still intangible despite the fact that it is something you can hold, it is not something you can use and consume.

Money comes in the form of practicality. People are willing to pay for food because it is something they need to consume daily to survive. People are willing to pay for clothing because they need to wear something. People pay for transport because they need to get somewhere fast and efficiently.

Practicality comes in the form of the tangible; something that you desire, need and can use. If it doesn’t allow you to use it, then it has to bring in money in terms of investment on your art form in some way or another. If not, no one is interested in it from a practical standpoint.

That is the reason most artists suffer. Their creations stop at the level of it being useful, then somebody steps in to take the intellectual property and make it into a product to make money with very little to no compensation for the creator. Although there are supporters for creatives but the masses are exploiting the works of artists.

People wants music, pictures, movies and anything in-between to be free. In our current situation, most people expects it to be free. They don’t expect houses, food, and cars to be free, but the intangibles have to be free. This kills creativity and by killing creativity—it kills the human spirit.

Imagine a world without images, without entertainment, without dance, sound and music. A lifeless world where everyone is a drone and their primary goal is to manufacture and produce. Life will become devoid of meaning. The beautiful world that we are living in right now are because of artists and creatives. The intangibles are the creating power for without there can be no tangible. The creative spirit in humans are the reasons why we are having what we are having now.

Artists are no lesser than politicians, doctors, lawyers, CEOs in terms of the value they create but they are viewed as part of the lower rung in society. There are many artist that I know of, struggling to make ends meet because commercially they are treated as the bottom feeder of a factory chain.

It saddens me that this is the current state of appreciation for artists, artists whom have dedicated a significant portion of their lives to their crafts in order to bring beautiful things into our lives. It takes a tremendous amount of energy, time and resources to create. It takes a huge amount of life-force to simply practice their crafts and hone their skills to give their best. A piece of themselves goes along with every piece of art they do and they share this piece of themselves with you. It just cannot be done on an empty stomach.

In a simple way, most artists just wants to share and make you happy and joyful with the art they bring. It is an irony that most people are more interested in hording stuff, amassing fame, focusing on disaster news and the suffering of the world instead of what is beautiful.

You cannot hold on to experiences nor touch it and eat it but know that at the end, every tangible things you own, you have to drop, it stays with the world.

I think it is time we honor these artists in whatever craft they bring to our awareness. I know the dedication and the sacrifice that true artists go through; the courage, passion and drive that is required is almost super-human like and I am grateful for these people being alive in our times.

I understand that it is very difficult to see the price and value of art because we base what we need from the perception of the physical senses. Every intangible stuff are the stuff of experiences. Music induces a sense of emotional experience for you. Photography brings you to places through the eyes of another because you cannot be physically there. Movies allow you to live through the adventures and lives of another. Video games allows you to experience an alternate reality not found in the world. These shared visions and experiences is what makes life fuller.

You cannot hold on to experiences nor touch it and eat it but know that in the end, every tangible things you own, you have to drop, it stays with the world—your experiences of life becomes everything you ever had.

Understand that the tangible and the intangibles are one. They cannot be without the other. The tangible have to be conceived from the intangibles, just like how the world is created from a beautiful and intelligent source; everything that we see now was nothing but an empty space at some point.

In order to support the artists of our time, the least we can do is to extend our gratitude to the works of artists we love. There is no need for critiques. If it brings us a fuller and better experience, that is enough.

The source of creation from the intangible things is inside every one of us; we wake up to create our dreams, values and relationships with others. It is just that sometimes, someone will take it a bit further with their talents, hard work and perseverance for the love of sharing themselves with the world.

This is what artists do.

So lets end this with a thank you to the creatives of our time…for your dedication stirs the mind and moves the soul.

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