The Subjectivity of Art

I’ve been really obsessed with music lately, which is not really out of the norm because we all know I need it to write and do just about anything else. I have a recurring hum in my ears because I’m hardly ever without earphones (I know, I know it’s actually really bad, but try and stop me…you might regret it) or there’s never not any music playing in the background. I also have four different devices, which can allow me to play music, five if you include my laptop.

And I’ve been thinking about the subjectivity of art and the different mediums. Becuase just as much as I obsess over music and literature and even film or TV (ok, last night’s Game of Thrones episode…let’s just take a moment here to appreciate that and in all it’s glory and not give out any spoilers please!) there is someone behind the scenes who is making this piece of art and bringing it to life. They’re infusing it with life and we’re taking it on at face value, we’re not really understanding what’s going on behind the scenes.

Lately, a lot of the artist’s I’ve been crushing on has been touring over on Warped (serious FOMO there) or releasing some amazing new music. One of those artists is a band called PVRIS. It’s an electro pop alternative three piece band who are absolutely killing it right now.

They’ve teased us with tracks from their new album that was supposed to drop last week and every track has been top notch and if you haven’t found them, do yourself a favour and pre-order their album. You’ll get four amazing tracks of pure ear candy.

I’ve never been one to pre-order things. In fact, I can count on one hand a number of times I’ve pre-ordered something. It’s been books, well a book, an album (which I never actually picked up…woops) some jewellery (this is actually pretty new) and this album.

I can’t put into words just why because it’s not like it’s going to go out of stock, I buy all of my music off iTunes and unless that shuts down I’m sure I’m safe, but I just needed to. The haunting melodies stick with me long after the song is finished and even after playing the same four songs over and over again I can’t seem to get sick of them. I just take it as a chance to memorise all of the lyrics. So far I’ve got What’s Wrong pretty much down packed…ha!

But I stumbled along something on Lynn’s Twitter (she’s the one crooning into your brain if you’ve just gone to find a sample of her voice) and she mentioned that previously she didn’t have a favourite song on the album, because why would you? It’s like trying to pick a favourite story that you love the most. Or picking a favourite child. It’s impossible.

And along her tweets, she mentioned that it was pretty close to her chest and that it was a song that allowed her to actually put her thoughts into words, but even then she wasn’t sure if it would translate into the brains of listeners, because any sort of creative medium is subjective.

What struck me the hardest as she tweeted it, was that she was sad that listeners would never be able to udnerstand the beauty of being able to understand exactly what she felt and managed to put otu there. There could be a level of understanding that allowed listeners to connect with it but it wouldn’t be the same.

It couldn’t be the same.

The way that an artist puts out their own work is different to the way that a listener, reader or critic will pull it apart and enjoy it.

I can write a story or a scene and see every aspect of what’s going on, but I can then hand it to a friend and they can be utterly lost and get something quite different out of it.

[Tweet “Art is subjectively beautiful and shouldn’t be taken for granted.”]

It makes my blood boil when people decide that their opinion is all that matters and decided cut down with their nasty words, don’t do it. You wouldn’t say shit about a doctor doing their job differently, would you? Well, you probably would, because it seems that humanity has all sorts of opinions about things that don’t actually affect them directly.

But I’m digressing here. PVRIS’ masterpiece All We Know About Heaven, All We Need of Hell is out of this world. I actually can’t wait for the rest of the drop, which is coming on the 25^th of this month, it couldn’t come any faster if I wanted it to.

I’m learning that sometimes even when you have a date set for a release it doesn’t mean it has to come out then. If it needs to be refined a little more or tweaked, take the time do it, you want to be proud of the work you put out there and it may not be a work of art that someone else cherishes to death, but it will be a work of art that you’re proud of so and that’s all that matters the most.

And any creative who is making it out there should understand that life will get hard, it’ll be a fucking nightmare sometimes, but if you create fearlessly and consistently you’ll reap the rewards and there will be that one person that will pick up your art and love it just as much as you do, if not more, and that person is the one that matters the most out of the haters and nay sayers.

Are you fearlessly creating something that you hope to be consumed by others? Do you fear that the meaning you are trying to portray may get lost in it all?