Many great art pieces displayed in museums or in some millionaire's golden dining room, all owe it to one of the solid foundations from the world's greatest civilizations; The Ancient Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans and Mayans to name a few.Each developed unique artistic characteristics that served as the starting point for today's masterpieces.
People that say that "art is a universal language" are only seeing a fraction of the picture. While many see art as just random splashes of ink on a piece of canvas, I look at it on a more personal level. Its something liberating that affects everyone differently, something that gives you mixed emotions while you're creating your next masterpiece. The only problem? Art is like having your own country with your own language, and most, do not understand it...but sometimes, someone does, and that's the greatest satisfaction an artist can get.
However, when someone doesn't understand your language, they try to lecture you in thinking why your language is incorrect, false or downright stupid.
One particular piece that comes to mind is Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ". In 1987, Serrano photographed a plastic crucifix submerged in a glass filled with his own urine. This of course left little to the imagination and wasn't really open to interpretation. As one can imagine, it sparked a bevy of religious groups complaining about how the dividing line between artistic freedom and filth was broken, and how it offended religious morals. The photograph won The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art's "Awards in the Visual Arts" competition, which is funded by the US Government for which Serrano won enough money to buy himself a lifetime supplies of photographic material to continue taking pictures like this. Most didn't get it, but someone did, and paid $162,000 in December 1999 in London. I guess one man's treasure is another man's crap.In reality, art is all about perception. As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it probably cannot be more true in this case. No one can teach art, you can only teach technique. Talent comes from within you, not within books. There is no such thing as a technically correct piece of art, be it painting, music, pottery, sculpting etc...and whatever you do, even if no one gets it, it doesn't mean its bad, it's just your way of expressing it.
