To be or not to be?

Hamlet. Suicide contemplation. Best. Play. Ever.

Today - and mostly yesterday - I've been thinking about art. I know, I know. "again Kate? Really?" didn't we already have this discussion with the claymation issue? shut up! I don't even know why I keep blogging, but I do. . . emotional release I suppose. Stress reliever. A chance to pretend I can write. (Just kidding, I'm a great writer!)

Anyways! Art!

So here is my thought.

Is all great art suffered for? Is it great because someone suffered for it? or is it suffered for because it is great? Think about. I mean really think about it. What does it mean if you do not truly feel something for it. Some great pain or passion for what you create. Would Vincent Van Gogh still have been seen as great if he had not died because of his art? He was not seen as great while he lived. It is his suffering, that you can feel in the art that makes it so wonderful. You do not truly appreciate his paintings until you know and appreciate the man.

Can you really say you created something great if you did not have to sacrifice for it? What does it mean if you do not give up something for it? If you do not sacrifice a little bit of yourself to it, your time, your sanity. Your soul.

All art, all true art, is an expression of the soul (thus I disagree with Plato's theory on the soul, but we won't get into that today.) When an artist creates something they are truly giving a bit of themselves to it. That is sacrifice. If you do not give a bit of yourself to it, or all of yourself, than you do not truly care about it. If you don't truly care about what you are creating, than why create it? To make it great you must have passion and pain for it.

This is my conclusion: Sacrifice and suffering are the two requirements for great art.

So what do I have passion for? What will I give my soul to, to make it breathe? What do I want to bring to life like my own Frankenstein monster?

These are the things I think about when I'm downtrodden and contemplating my own artistry. I blame hormones. . . :)

Also! my last pieces of advice for you is to these two things.

#1: See Rent. If you don't you won't appreciate the next quite as much

#2: look up the sound Louder Than Words from Tick Tick Boom. Get the lyrics too. it makes it better.