I Was Here

Imagine a sixty year old man, facing you, with his hands draped over the curve of a cane, sitting down on a wooden museum bench posing for a picture.

Interviewer: "Whats your largest remaining goal in life?"
Man: "I'd love to teach a course in art history."
Interviewer: "So what would you say is the purpose of art?"
Man: "Well, art is a means of expression, of course. But it's also a means of record. If you look at the earliest artists, their art was a way for them to say: 'I was here."

Our legacy and our "mark" is defined by the impression we leave upon people, and the interpersonal connections forged with time. The relationships we take the time to form in person are much more lasting than an instant connection on Facebook.

The beauty of art is that after we're gone, we can still impress upon people ideas and we can still connect with them. This is true of paintings and books. Recipients of art form own interpretations. But the artists have the right to say, "we were here."

Love // Christelle

P.S. That first quote is from Humans of New York, which you absolutely have to visit. It was my primary source of procrastination through finals week.