It’s odd, Neil Degrasse Tyson said something a while back in an AMA he was doing on Reddit, I believe the question was ‘what would you want to see in Art from an alien culture’, and part of his response gave me pause. It was when he described Art as something that comes from untapped intellectual energy. That gave me pause. Mainly because Art has been presented to me, in the realm I grew up in, as NOT something intellectual. It can range from emotional, to political, to gimmicky, but rarely does it seem to be treated as intellectual. Perhaps it is treated as such and I just don’t see it, being an artist who does not work within the art world.
But the takeaway was that the definitions and expectations of intellectualism these days is a very narrow thing. Atleast in what I’ve been exposed to. It is something that has rarely been shown to be much more than entertainment.
Personally, I’ve never shared this sentiment. I look at Art as something that is just as important as any other endeavor, even the most serious. Mainly because Art is the contemplation of life scenarios and functions through medium. And that is INSANELY important. Without that, reflection is left to individualism, and we miss out on the comradery in reflection. We miss out on sharing reflection, which I think is of great benefit, as the human condition is only so wide, so much of what can be shared in experience can resonate, personally, with others.
So it was good to hear Mr. Tyson aptly describe Art as an intellectual process. Especially when it seems intellectual endeavors have been quaratined to places of theory, like academia.