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I’ve always been an enthusiastic of the whole concept of creating art.

It is so…so liberating, you know?

You sit in a closed room, your back to the world, heedless to what anyone else is doing, and you just do your work, whatever it is.

Such an amazing concept.

The next thing I think about right after I’ve created some art is, can this change the world? Can art change the world? Will I ever be able to create something so profound and so magnetic, and so aesthetically-pleasing and revolutionary that it will end up putting a little positive shift in the mindset of all those who see it.

Creating Art

Creating art is like changing the world. You do small attempts and make little efforts, continuously, until one thing comes up and sways it all away and you realize that you actually did end up changing the world.

I think artists change the world, through their art. There’s just some requirements to that, and they might be… being bold, speaking the truth, following the fire of your heart, that all makes a positive change in the world.

Children do really great art, and the good thing is that they don’t even have to learn it from someone. They can just do it. But since children don’t really think about changing the world, at least not commonly, it’s upto the adults to actually create art that changes the world.

The formulas can keep coming and coming.

But can art change the world? Yes, of course.

In these few minutes that follow, you’re going to look at the 9 reasons why art changes the world.

Can Art Change The World…?

#1 ART SPEAKS THE TRUTH

One of the first and foremost requirements of being an artist is to stay truthful. It is to say the same things, same stories but in a way that ends up doing something.

If you want to change the world, it goes without saying, you have to speak the truth. You have to be in it for good.

You have to change the world from what it was—which wasn’t very nice, according to you, and needed change—and you want to bring it to where it should be—which is like, more or less how the Disney movies end, a.k.a. in utopia.

And no matter which language, art form, or method you use, the first and foremost medium you need is the ability to speak the truth.

#2 ART IS A WEAPON

Brandish your weapon. Artists are like badass people. A little corny, but badass. (Does that make sense?)

The main power to create actual world-changing art is to use it as a weapon to slay the wrong powers in the world. It’s like when you start creating it for yourself but you end up creating it for someone else.

I’m not saying that every once in a while you shouldn’t just do something for yourself—that’s necessary, but if we can use such an amazing, pretty weapon (notice the irony?) to win battles that, you know, don’t shed blood, what else do we need?

Use art as a weapon to put forward your ideologies in a way that looks great, which brings us to the next point.

#3 ART IS PLEASING TO THE EYE

Art is pleasing to the eye. Sometimes, it’s even more than what meets the eye. Nonetheless, it’s beautiful, whether it’s created by some perfectionist master or a simple novice.

No matter what you create, what mediums you use, how bad you think it is, anything that’s created out of a human mind, out of the never-ending streams of creativity and intelligence, out of the imagination and the daydreams that we have, anything created out of that has the power to look beyond beautiful, no matter what, and beautify everything around it too.

I once visited a modern art gallery, and I was struck with this realization that we judge too soon and too fast. We think that for something to be pretty or considered to be beautiful in society’s eyes, it has to have certain qualities, certain colour compositions, certain words, certain emotions.

No, no, no.

I was looking at the painting, and okay you just mixed some colors here and there, used a knife for painting probably, or a thick bursh, and a huge canvas and yeah it’s…it’s modern, you know, but it’s still so, so, so beautiful.

If you’re thinking of bringing a change into the world, make sure both the process and the end result look beautiful and unique.

#4 ART IS PERVASIVE

Art is everywhere. Look around, everything is a piece of art. Some art is created by us. Other art is created by God and the universe. Everyone’s surrounded by art and this art has the power to influence us.

How can we not pay any attention to it?

The parallel between art and changing the wolrd here is that if you actually focus, you’ll see that many people around you want to do the same thing—change the world. They genuinely want to bring a positive change in some sphere of life or the other, and the only thing that holds them back is that they think they’re alone and stranded on an island.

No man is an island, remember? Just like people create art all around us, people change the world all around us. The least we can do is lend them a hand.

#5 ART MAKES YOU WANT TO THINK

Looking at art makes us want to think, something which even perfectly well and intelligent people fail to do sometimes. And it’s okay because I have realized that the brain has a capacity and overworking your capacity actually just…leads to burnout, creative blocks, fear of failure after working so hard and all other kinds of insecurities.

Sometimes we don’t want to think. Sometimes we just want to absorb energy, and not give anything in return, for once. This is completely okay, we can consume art in those times in hopes the old legends who created it will give us some inspiration.

I’ve made it a point to read one classic poem every day. You know, to learn from the best. Because, some of the modern contemporary poetry nowadays can’t even be called poetry.

#6 ART IS LIKE OXYGEN

At least for the artists, they need it to survive. I remembered when writing books was my oxygen and at the beginning of every book I’d write ‘Writing is like oxygen. I need it to breathe.’ Well, I was thirteen, then.

Similarly, I think every artist holds dear their creations. They are protective over it, and they love the things even if creating art is a hard and tiring process because of the high competition and the constant feeling of insecurity and despair.

Naturally, art helps us heal ourselves, turn into warriors that end up changing the world.

#7 ART MAKES YOU SEE THE BEAUTY IN IMPERFECTIONS

Because art itself is so beautiful in itself, and yet so…imperfect and on-the-spot, art helps us accept things as they are. Okay, you painted something and you find it beautiful but it was your first attempt so it’s not like…perfect, you know.

But you can’t redo the painting, that’d be pointless. The beauty lies in the imperfections, the first attempts, the honest-to-god trials. The beauty of not reaching perfection but constantly striving for it, that’s what makes art a journey worth living.

Are you struggling with expectations of perfection? Either someone you know or you yourself are pressurizing yourself to achieve perfection but realising that it comes at a cost, if it ever does?

Perfection is unattainable, I hold true. The highest we can reach is becoming the best.

#8 ART HELPS YOU SPEAK

Writing helps you say something you want to say without looking anyone in the eyes. As John Green said, “Writing is something you do alone. It’s a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don’t want to make eye contact while doing it.”

Art helps you convey the things you want someone to know and hope they get it. Whenever you look at some piece of art, don’t you always wonder what the message of the creator behind this was?

Art helps you say little things in big ways, or big things in little ways, whichever you want to do. Take the example of theatre, for example, you can have a little story idea and make it big and attractive and widespread, or you can take a big idea and present it in a simpler way through the medium of making people act.

Art helps you speak what you want.

In his book Same As Ever, Morgan Housel stresses this:

If you have the right answer, and you’re a good storyteller, you’ll almost certainly get ahead.

#9 ART LETS YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THE PROCESS

Creating art is a mind-numbing process. I remember suffering from burnout right after I published my first book. It was like, I was happy and all, don’t get me wrong, but I was also tired. Beyond tired, I was exhausted.

I’d look at my own books and not want to write anymore and I’d feel that I was done for. What happened to my oxygen, you know?

So yes, creating art, whichever form, one that you really hold dear to yourself, is a long process and you often just want to get it done with because you’re thinking about how it’d all look when it’s finished. While it’s not wrong to think about the results, you also need to fall in love with the process.

Same goes with changing the world. It’s a hard and very toiling process and demands huge mental energy and time, and he’s the demotivating secret, I don’t want you to lose your hopes, but you deserve to know that sometimes you even fail. And all you gotta do…keep going on.

And I get it, while in the process of doing something great that’s great enough to changing the world, you might be driven by the goal. But if you actually just want to change the world for the sake of changing the world, you need to do it in a way that makes you want to fall in love with the process, the process of doing good and seeing your actions creating ripples that surpass the boundaries, both geographical and psychological, of race, nations, thoughts that we once created.

Inspiring Quotes for Art:

These are a few inspiring quotes for art creation that I hope will help you let go of all the fears and rejections holding you back, and will allow you to exceed your expectations in the wake of creating a form of art that is going to change the wold.

• “I paint with my back to the world.” – Agnes Martin
• “There is art left to be made in this world.” – Anthony Bourdain
• “Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” – Cesar A. Cruz
• “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas
• “Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” – Twyla Tharp
• “Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet, and the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It exists.. it is real.. it is possible.. it’s yours.”― Ayn Rand
• “Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” – Lewis Carroll

Art actually changes the world. When you come to look at it, really, you’ll see that creating art is actually pretty similar to changing the world.

You are trying to say something and just hoping that people will listen. You are trying to create something, and that something is a better world. They’re so similar.

Whether you are holding a paintbrush or a pen, or a microphone, or a guitar, or a sketchbook, or a camera, or anything else that lets you bring something into this world that wasn’t here before—create something, whether good or bad and get it out into the world to see, you are changing the world in your own special and unique way.

And good luck for that.

Need more inspiring quotes for art and the artists, look at these quotes for artists to find inspiration.

For further reading, check out an amazing article about why art has the power to change the world.