The Art of Intelligence

As the ancient philosopher Aristotle correctly identified, intelligence resides in three realms- logos (logic), ethos (morals) and pathos (emotions). My motivation to create art essentially comes from pursuing a curiosity in each intellectual realm.

As it is primarily motivated by curiosity, my art goes into realms that are not a mirror upon myself. It explores the realms that I am not familiar with by integrating concepts, emotions and ideas that I am familiar with.  

As art explores intellectual realms, it expands them. The potential exploration is limited by the intellectual and knowledge capabilities of the person doing the exploring. For this reason, the creation of good art doesn't just flow from mastery of a paint brush or a pen; it also flows from gaining an education from experience and formal schooling.

In the past, art united the world. In renaissance Italy, engineers such as Leonardo De Vinci used art to think in abstract ways. In samurai Japan, warriors used art to gain mastery of their emotions and mental state of being. All over the world, the religious used art to feel closer to god or explore their religion's teachings.

Sadly, in the modern world, people have become compartmentalised and artists are no exception. Instead of artists operating in the disciplines of science, sport, theology and engineering, most operate in a discipline all of their own. They don't use art to achieve a purpose, rather they use art as an end in itself. For me, this is mistake. Artists need exposure to new intellectual areas to expand the potential of their art and this is more difficult when art stands alone as a discipline. It's also a mistake for artists to rely too much on feelings at the expense of logic and vice versa. Just as artists need knowledge of diverse areas, other disciplines also need art. Engineers need abstract exploration. Sportsmen need mastery of their minds. Priests need to consider the moral complexities of a changing world.

In some ways, I dislike the term artist because everyone should be an artist in some shape or form. They were when they were children, but for some reason their curiosity was lost with age. As they gained knowledge, they thought they gained the answers. Ideally, as they gained knowledge, they should have used it to realise just how much they don’t know. It is almost like William Blake said:

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern."

About the poet/painter