Why has so much been written about the aesthetic experience? And what is it?

The aesthetic experience is when art becomes a doorway. You look, listen, feel, and for yet another moment, or for the first time, you are seeing for yourself without the limiting and blinding filters of others—that is, of course, if you’ve got the guts.

Digging deeper: The aesthetic experience is a moment of truth, and you know where you stand without having to ask for a show of hands to corroborate your feeling.

And as we have heard from the poet, truth is beauty, and beauty truth—and so beautifully said to boot.

"No matter what further purposes artistic expressions may serve, they are produced and valued for themselves; we linger in them; we neither merely execute them mechanically, as we do automatic expressions, nor hasten through them, our minds fixed upon some future end to be gained by them, as is the case with practical expressions. Both for the artist and the appreciator, they are ends in themselves.”

—from The Principles of Aesthetics by Dewitt H. Parker

But are all artistic expressions created equally? Of course, not. Is it art or cotton candy? Is Muzak Mozart?

If you are taken with a painting, do you know why? Guessing or relying on the ‘expert’ opinions of others is not the aesthetic experience of feeling with your higher emotional intelligence—an endeavor that requires work.

Meaningful appreciation rarely happens overnight.

The other day, Walking Man 1, a 6-foot tall bronze by Alberto Giacometti sold at auction for a record-breaking $104.3 million to an undisclosed buyer. Pablo Picasso’s Boy With a Pipe held the previous record of $104.1 million set in 2004.

Of course, in these very high-end cases, the buyers are acquiring artworks that come with a provenance (ownership and history of the work) and the cachet of the artist. The value of these works has escalated due to demand and perceived value—not necessarily based on intrinsic value.

Which brings me to my point.

Where does the art come from? Each story is unique. I’ve written a bio in broad brushstrokes that includes situations that I’m writing about in a bit more detail for the first time. You can read about my journey in About Eden—the link is in the upper right sidebar.

My advice to art lovers still stands: acquire the art of living artists; the departed no longer require your financial support.

All art isn’t from the soul. This isn’t a point of separation or a comparison; it is a distinction that each artist must make for her own self. If you don’t know where you stand, then you can be assured others will make that choice for you. The artist who creates art for art’s sake paints an indelible line in the sand. She remains steadfast and unadulterated by the temperamental winds of taste, social conditioning, or cultural pressures to conform.

While this artist may be politically active, or not, she is never complacent. Her art can’t be co-opted or unsettled by the nonsense or agenda concocted by others. She uses her work for whatever reasons she desires; as long as it is her decision, her work remains pure—and that is the mission, which includes earning a living and staying healthy.

She is the vanguard. 

To anyone caught up in the maya of the world, art might seem to be an extracurricular activity, a day’s outing to galleries or a museum, if not altogether an irrelevant topic.

The genuine creation and appreciation of art represent an evolutionary birth in the deep gene pool of grounded awareness. Art is wealth precisely because it born free from the mundane and the tyranny of the masses. To get my meaning, both artist and art viewer must prove the value of this reality to themselves.

A tribe, society, or civilization focused on the exploration of unbridled art will by definition live in relative harmony with themselves and their environment.

Now that’s what I call a plan.