Art
Every other Tuesday, my arts-advocacy organization Art Matters hosts Coffee+Art, a space for people who consider themselves creative on campus to talk about art over free coffee. The coffee comes from a student-run startup and the art comes from everyone. This week, we focused on sharing works of art that we have created.
On a day to day basis, I pass hundreds of people and never pay them more than a glance or a single thought. I can reasonably assume that each of these people has a complex life, filled with responsibilities towards themselves and their friends and family. It amazes me when so many of these people go beyond their basic responsibilities like their work and social lives to create beautiful things. Of course, there are various utilitarian benefits like personal satisfaction and mental health that can be derived from art, but when you live in an institution with little support for the arts, it’s truly remarkable for people to push against the norm.
As I listened intently to people explaining their various processes, why they made what they did, and a slew of other details, I could tell that some of these people hadn’t had chances to show off prior to this, to get validation that what they pour their time into has meaning and value. In an increasingly validation-centric world, it’s remarkable to maintain this dedication to craft and self-satisfaction and being able to continue without constantly getting validation that the work is worth creating. The vulnerability required in creating and sharing requires an enormous amount of bravery.
Personally, I want to get there. I want to be creating art that’s meaningful and important to me (and hopefully others as well). I’m not really sure how to get there. Maybe I need to be thinking more about developing stronger ideas and think about the execution of how to represent them as media. Maybe I need to experiment with different media and see where that takes me. Regardless, my past work has all been very illustrative, focusing on depicting certain objects or images, rather than having its own independent meaning. I’m going to find the steps I need to take to change that.
You can check out my other illustrations on my Instagram @garabaggio. Sorry about the change of pace! We'll be back to regularly scheduled programming next week :~).
Drops of the Week
where I *drop* recommendations of cool things this week
Longread
“A Fire’s First, Fatal Hours” By Kevin Fagan, Jill Tucker, Lizzie Johnson, Peter Fimrite, Marissa Lang, Kurtis Alexander, Esther Mobley, and Michael Cabanatuan - incredible, in-depth piece about the fires that ravaged Wine Country last week. Extremely emotional and impressive read.
Film Breakdown
“Lost City” by Cameron Bird - short dig into Blade Runner 2049’s reimagined Las Vegas. I loved the visuals in this movie and the attention to detail is impeccable.
Album
The Ooz by King Krule - this album came out last Friday, but it might already be my favorite of the year. King Krule does an excellent job of creating a murky atmosphere and injecting his emotions and his thoughts throughout this beautiful record.
Thanks so much for reading! If you have any comments/concerns or fan/hate mail for me, you know how to reach me (links below).
Love,
Nikhil