A Cross-Cultural Concept of Art

What is true of all cultures and their artworks? Here are three universals:

• All cultures possess unique raw materials for use.

• All cultures operate with distinct values and worldviews.

• All cultures have developed their own forms of expression.

Remove all other secondary distractions. These elements provide everything necessary to engage in culture-making and contribute meaningfully to the world.

Different Lego Makers

There is no such thing as a non-make; we all create every single day.

We create words, sighs, grumblings, murmurs, praises, and laughter.

We craft moments, movements, meanderings. 

We make value through how we navigate the world each day.

The real question is: what kind of maker are you?

If you give a group of children Legos, you can observe their distinct styles emerge:

• Some kids need the instructions. They thrive by seeing the model.

• Others rely on explanations, feeling bound to verbal guidance.

• Some prefer bringing order out of chaos. They feel alive as they design their own system for world-building.

• Others build worlds around a story. They use their Lego creation to enact a narrative from their imagination.

And still, some see the Legos but choose not to play at all.

We’re “All” Artists!

Saying, “We’re all artists” is kind of like saying, “Everyone’s an evangelist.” 

Some are especially gifted for it.

But all should do it.

You May Not Be An Artist, But…

Sure, you may not be an Artist. 

However, with all you do and say, and how you do and say it builds an image within someone else's imagination. 

You are more of an artist than you think.

Meet Me at the Metaphor

Artists possess a unique superpower: the ability to create metaphors.

Through metaphors, we foster deep connections. The works of art we create are more than objects; they are vibrant worlds in which our imaginations can build meaningful community.

Pablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist (Blue Period; 1901–1904)

Picasso painted The Old Guitarist during his Blue Period (1901–1904). Little did he know that more than eighty years later, a young boy would visit the museum year after year, captivated by the mystery of the artist’s initial composition. Hidden beneath the dry oil brushstrokes lies an earlier painting that Picasso began before shifting his focus to the seated guitarist.

That young boy was me.

The Old Guitarist remains a timeless masterpiece. It was through this artwork that I first connected with Picasso. While a biography could provide the facts of his life, it was before this canvas in the museum that I truly encountered his heart.

The painting first resonated with me as a child on a third-grade field trip, but its meaning has morphed over the years as it opened the door to a deeper understanding of Picasso’s story behind the piece.

Metaphor: The Marriage Between Thought & Imagination

C.S. Lewis provided three guiding principles concerning the interplay between thoughts and the imagination. I’ll just call this the marriage which metaphor provides.

We have now three guiding principles before us:

1. That thought is distinct from the imagination which accompanies it.

2. That thought may be in the main sound even when the false images that accompany it are mistaken by the thinker for true ones.

3. That anyone who talks about things that cannot be seen, or touched, or heard, or the like [the other senses], must inevitably talk as if they could be seen or touched or heard [i.e. metaphor]. 

From chapter 10. “Horrid Red Things” in Miracles by C.S. Lewis.

From Imagination to Reality

I first learned to play the drums through my imagination.

I vividly recall watching Green Day music videos, internalizing how the hi-hat synced with the left foot. I distinguished the sound of the snare from the deep resonance of the toms. And I would carefully mimic the stick movements as they made contact with the skins.

Before long, I could play along to the entire Dookie album in my head.

Because I was so immersed in it, transitioning to a real drum set felt surprisingly intuitive (even if my technique was far from perfect).

I often joke that my musical journey truly began on the air drums.

Artists thrive in this kind of journey. They first live in the imagination.

But the journey of artmaking is the journey to manifest that into the physical world.

How to Pioneer Something

Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise (1872)

Sometimes, you might make something outside the box. Perhaps there is no category for it. It goes against the grain of all that is out there already. But it resonates with a few.

This work (or you) might make you get labeled a certain way by those who don’t see the vision you see.

What you might not realize yet is you might be pioneering the next wave of something. You might be defining boundaries not yet existence.

Monet’s Impression, Sunrise did not launch the Impressionist movement, per se. But the name, “The Impressionists,” came directly from this painting. You never know who else out there is pioneering something you alongside you. You just can’t see them yet.