“To be great, art has to point somewhere.” - Anne Lamot

 “To be great, art has to point somewhere.” - Anne Lamot (1954- ). Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, 4 (“Giving”), 1995

There are two means for which we create art - for no point, and for a point. We create art for no point at all when we create art simply for the sake of creation. When we sing a song to ourselves while we walk in the woods alone that nobody else will ever hear, when we draw little doodles in the margins of your school notebooks, and when we create elaborate sandcastles on the beach, we are creating for the sake of creating. We make art, quite often, no because we want to achieve something or say something, but only for the pure enjoyment of the creation of that piece of art, for the pure joy of life, or for the unquenchable need to simply express our feelings. Not every piece of art needs to be happy - misery loves company, after all. In our happy days we paint for the joy of painting, and during our sad days, we write only because it hurts too much to stay silent any longer; and this too is art without point, artistic endeavors for the sake of the performance, and not for the sake of the result. 

The other type of art we make is art that has a point to it, that has a reason for its existence beyond the mere art itself. This is art that is political in nate such as antiwar songs, patriotic flags, and depictions of lawful violence. This is art that is commercial in nature, whose purpose is to sell or glorify an item. This is art whose purpose is to be beautiful or to be seen, such as a portrait of a President, or a landscape we hang in the front parlor as a conversation piece. This is art that is religious in nature, like a stained glass window or a statue. This is art which sends a message, or which is designed to bring forth an emotion in its viewer, like a song on the radio. The purpose of this type of art is not to simply be admired by the artist who drew it, and it is likely that the artist would not be happy with this type of artwork disappearing, and being forgotten. This type of artwork is meant to do something in the world, to change something in the world, and to mean something to somebody. It is never a nothing, be it hated or loved. It is either understood or misunderstood, because it is always saying something. 

I suspect that the reason the second type of artwork can be great, while the irst type cannot, is because 'greatness' is something that is conferred upon one. 'Something' is 'great'. That which passes it the night, unseen, unremembered, and unremarked upon, can never be recognized as great. It does not exist within the bounds of a historical existence. This does not mean that the art which we do in our private time that is important only to us cannot be great, but if it is to be great, then it must be shared, either with others, or with our future selves. It is not an uncommon occurrence in the world for us to find something hidden away in a closet, something that we once created and forgot about but which now seems grand and precious to us, such as an old notebook filled with poems we once wrote, or an old notebook filled with our school-hood doodles. These words, the signs, this art, may still be great to us. We may realize, all of a sudden, that something we had forgotten was important to us, was a sign of who we were, and is now shown to be great in some way. The point of art may be revealed in time, just as some art that we believed did have a point turned out to be not so very important or original after all. So, we shouldn't give up on making art without a point, and neither should we insist that every piece of art have a point - But if we want to see the greatness in a piece, then perhaps we should seek to the point of a piece. 

However, there is a difference between the idea that 'this piece of art has a point', and 'what is the point of this piece of art?'. Both presume that there is a point, but one insists, while the other seeks. Beware of trying to force a point onto a piece of art, or of demanding that there be a point when there is not. When we do that, we can sometimes lose sight of the very piece of art we were looking at, when we chase those phantasms that are really only our own wishes. In other words, to find great art, to see the greatness in art, sometimes you have to be great, and magnanimous. Imperial, and not imperious. Seeking, and not demanding. Humble yet proud.

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