WHAT IS ART ANYWAY?
The Art of Selfies and Crystal Flutes: It’s All About Perspective
By the time the dog and I got out the door, we wouldn’t have made it to our destination in time to run even one simple errand.
I considered going back inside to the air conditioning and the near absence (in my ADHD mind) of time. But I realized we had already gone through the highly ritualized combat that is putting on Luke’s collar and leash.
Anyone who’s been a companion to a dog knows a leash is a promise which, if broken, will lead to confusion and hurt feelings — for four-leggeds and two-leggeds alike. So we went to our local trail.
In order to share our walk with family, I snapped a few selfies with Luke. Like most four-leggeds, he doesn’t understand selfies. He has no need for cameras or social media. To Luke, FOMO is the fear of missing out on a walk.
For the selfies, I knelt down beside Luke and, try as I might, couldn’t get him to look at my phone long enough to get a nice clear photo. So I decided to follow his lead and do whatever he did. This photo is the result.
It’s one of my favorite selfies. I felt the switch flip in my brain as I took in the world from his perspective.
Everything is interesting from a dog’s point of view. Soil and shit are closer and smell stronger, treetops are much farther away, and bicycles at full speed can definitely be scary. Living as a dog in a world built for humans means keeping your nose to the ground, examining every new smell to find food to eat and rabbits to chase.
Have you seen, heard, or created anything that shifted your perspective, even a little bit?
Artistic works can do that very effectively. A creative mind is one that is always looking for new ways to see and engage the world.
Lizzo, and photos of her, broadened the conversation about race, music, and access to the arts when she played James Madison’s crystal flute at the Library of Congress last year. Conservative pundits made lots of hay (and possibly lots of advertising dollars) from their outrage. “Simply desecrating American history just for the sake of it,” said one.
People can feel threatened when the way they think the world operates suddenly changes. Even when a classical flutist, who happens to also be a pop star, plays an old dusty flute they never even knew about.
A century and a half ago, a Black woman playing a slaveowner president’s flute would have ended much differently. It’s past time for that particular perspective to change.
Perhaps one becomes an artist when the products of their different perspective (their works of art, images, words, songs) spark a similar shift in a viewer, reader, or listener.
My selfie shows the moment I stopped trying to coax Luke into holding still and decided to move with him. The resulting photo came a lot more naturally than others have.
I realize these examples feel uneven. Comparing my selfie with Lizzo’s culture-shifting performance is pretty ridiculous. The one thing they have in common is they call on us to look at the world differently, whether it’s at a beautiful dog or a magical flute.
Are either of these art? If it changes something in how even one person looks at the world, maybe it is.
I’d love to hear in the comments about something you’ve made or experienced that changed your perspective.
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