Signals... from millions
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There are millions of artists in the world. Millions an millions. The estimate say that there are roughly 17 million people globally who work in core visual, performance, or multi-disciplinary professional fields. On top of that, in the United States alone, brought 18 million more people take up painting as a hobby. The art supply business in the US is a $1.2 billion dollar marketplace with a healthy growth rate. And ... you have to ask "why?" Is art important?
The strong signal across time, civilizations, ethnicities, age groups, financial statuses gives us a resound "YES" - it is important. and I have struggled for a long time to reason through the question "WHY?".
Signals. Every utterance, hand gesture, mark on paper has a little reason behind it. Some, will never be known -- but the utterances of human-kind are packed into "art".
We have to ask some big questions about "thought" and consciousness - but one thing I can reckon -- when artists all around the world are putting marks on surfaces in a meaningful way there is a message in it all. There is a signal and some of that "frequency" is very personal, and some profound. So when you buy art -- you are picking up a "visual voicemail" and answering it with "I think I underdstand".
That's why it matters. That's why it has always mattered.