What is consuming art?
We live in a time of hyper-consumerism. Everything is readily available with a click, swipe, or tap. I contend that beyond the availability and access there is an art to consuming…anything. For the purpose of discussion, we’ll define art as the conscious use of skill and creative imagination and consuming as enjoying avidly or to engage fully. The art of consuming art is the skill to avidly enjoy and fully engage with another’s use of skill and creative imagination. What does this look like?
Learning to consume art
Experiences with Music as a listener
The first time I learned to listen and to really enjoy music was from my Dad. We had this record player with AM/FM radio and large speakers on either side. In the very center of it on the bottom was a blue power button. If you positioned yourself lying down at that dot and out about 18-24 inches, then you were in the most ideal position to immerse yourself in the sound. I remember listening to classical music with my dad on the floor. And we were invited to stay so long as we could be quiet and listen.
Through this experience my Dad taught me that I could listen, could fully immerse myself and enjoy avidly music from a young age. Go forward in time, to my young adult years. My best friend and I bought a CD together. We took it back to my apartment and put it into my large boombox (yes, I’m a child of the nineties). We laid on the floor with minimal light on and just listened. Start to finish. And when the CD finished, we looked at each other and said, “Do you want to listen to it again?” So we did. These two moments are some of the most formative for me in helping me to learn how to consume music.
Experiences with Music as a performer
I have performed in many concerts starting when I was eight years old. Concert etiquette and learning how to listen with respect while those on stage shared freely their talents, was something I learned pretty quickly. I think the moment where I learned to be a consumer of live music came when I was 20 years old. It was shortly after the 9-11 tragedy in 2001. I was a music student at Utah State University and in response to the horrific events, the music department decided to perform a concert to help heal the community and to help us process what we had experienced as a nation.
The concert was called Lamentations. Every department performed and it was a packed house. Sitting and watching my fellow music students perform while tears streamed down my face is a core memory. I avidly enjoyed. The music consumed me. It changed me. Since that time, I have had the privilege of attending many concerts, of many genres, and each time I have found a way to be completely immersed and avidly enjoying the experience.
Experiences with Art
I learned to do this with art as well. The first time I truly consumed art, I was in the Chicago Art Institute. We walked into the Impressionist display and prominently displayed was a water lily painting my Claude Monet. I sat on the bench in front of it and was completely immersed by this painting. I couldn’t move for 45 minutes. It was an almost transcendental experience. Unfortunately, we needed to finish our tour in the limited time we had left that day. And I will never forget what it felt like enjoy that painting, watching the brush strokes, studying the brilliant work of an art creator. It was amazing.
I have had several experiences similar to this one at Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Graceland, Stax, and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, and the Southern Utah Museum of Art in Cedar City. And so many more.
Experiences with Literature
I remember reading Number the Stars in the fourth grade for the first time. That experience was so moving that I remember seeking out books to find stories that would move me similarly. I have had similar experiences with books like “The Wave”, “Ender’s Game”, The Hunger Games trilogy, The Divergent trilogy, and so many more.
Experiences with other art forms
With all the many opportunities to consume art, what about becoming a consumer of less commonly thought of art. Like skills and talents of the people around us. I have learned to avidly enjoy and completely immerse myself in the meals that are made by people around me. My mom is a phenomenal cook and can create amazingly and comforting culinary experiences from nothing. And she taught us how to cook. Finding restaurants that excel at their craft and learning to truly enjoy their food. Good food is art!
Cultivate your skill at consuming art
The knowledge and experience of those around us is another opportunity we have to consume what people have to offer. People who are excel at making friends are expert consumers in what others have to offer. It is a skill that I’m actively trying to cultivate. Everyone has a story—and if you take the time to listen and ask questions you can become fully immersed and avidly enjoy OR consume what they can provide. Good friends are the colors that liven the art of our lives!
There are myriad opportunities to consume. Challenge yourself find ways that you can consume art of all varieties! Manifest the good around you and let’s be HI together!