I have always wondered, why art? Why create? Why bother?
What is it that makes us want to be a part of any creative proccess? This is definitely different from person to person, but one thing is certain, that everyone shares unique a love and a passion for whatever art form they create. From music, novels, films, sculpture, paintings and many more, in order for something to turn out to be visually interesting and beautiful, passion is vital.
Something else that I always thought about, is for who we create art for? Is it for our personal fulfilment, is it for a wider audience, for a career, for money or for fame? Even though I am currently living in London, I keep all of my artworks in Greece. And when I go back home, besides a few paintings that my parents have decorated our home with, the rest of them are kept in our storage room. Recently, when I was looking for an old small drawing, I found myself surrounded by all these paintings and art pieces that I have put so much efford researching and creating, and there they were, hidden in our storage room, where nobody saw them. I felt weird, thinking that I spent so much time creating something that ended up in a storage room, what was the point?
A few weeks went by, I returned to London and did not think about that, until I came across this man, in Cromwell road, between the Natural History Museum and the Victorian & Albert Museum.
As I was walking towards the tube station, I saw all these people surrounding a man, but I could not understand what was really happening. I was very curious so I stopped and moved a bit closer, to realise that the man everyone was surrounding was actually creating art in the middle of the streets.
The first thing I noticed was how great he had created the perfect shape to seem like he was drawing on a piece of paper, but taking a closer look, it turns out that he was painting on the actual floor of the pavement. Even though the surface of the floor was not smooth, his work was very clean and his colours very soft. His use of different colours of charcoal was excellent making his final result look even smoother. I loved how he had very limited materials, no canvas, no paper but still, he managed to create a very beautiful drawing and get the attention of a number of people, including myself.
After observing for a few minutes, I continued walking towards the tube station, but I was still thinking about that man. More specifically, I was thinking about his reasons for creating art. Of course he was doing it for the money as well, but why drawing on the floor? If instead of drawing on the floor he used paper, he would then have his own small collection, and could even start selling his works. Drawing on the floor in London only means one thing. His art piece will last for one day maximum. Either the unexpected rain will wash it away after a few hours, or when he finishes his art and leaves, people will simply walk all over his art without noticing it was there.
But I am sure he was well aware of that and simply chose to draw on the floor because in my opinion he did not really care. All he cared about was his passion and will to create. He was simply living the moment, doing what he loved , experimenting and using his passion to create something interesting. To express himself and sent a message through his art. If he only cared about money or fame, I am sure that he would create art id a different way. But he didn’t. He just did what he felt like doing, and that was to create something beautiful that was not permanent and would last for only a couple of hours, and that, in my opinion was the beauty of his work.
Thank you for reading,
Elli
Art Attack 