Will Bassing - Art as self expression

R. G. Collingwood in the 1930s took art to be a matter of self-expression: “By creating for ourselves an imaginary experience or activity, we express our emotions; and this is what we call art.” (http://www.iep.utm.edu/aestheti/).  I feel that art is an excellent way to express emotions.  During tough periods of my life I have written poems or painted, and it always seems therapeutic.  The discussion of “what art is” is not as controversial, to me, as the discussion of “what beauty is.”  Because to me, art is purely subjective.  If I want to dance in my room to music that I am playing in my head, that can be art.  I think that art for art’s sake is a very powerful thing.  Nobody can tell you what to paint or what not to paint, nobody can tell you what they “approve” or “disapprove” of.  When I have a blank canvas or paper in front of me, I can paint or draw whatever I want.  Art is expression, which is not necessarily beautiful.  However, if I painted a masterpiece and other people thought it was beautiful and they found pleasure in looking at it, then that is great, but the main purpose of art for me is expression.  I feel that our best work comes when we paint with our souls and our emotions.  Whether or not the art comes out aesthetically pleasing or not doesn’t matter, because you just had an experience and you painted what you felt, and that is all that matters.