What is Art?

After I purchased my tickets for this Friday’s Bob Dylan performance at Assembly Hall, I rushed to catch the 6 bus home, where I did the one thing that dominated my mind – watched all four hours of Martin Scorsese’s, “No Direction Home.” The film documents the early career of Dylan, but most notably his controversial 1965 tour of England, where he shocked fans by performing with an electric backing band. The result was the birth of one of the most prominent forms of music to come out of the 20th century: folk rock.\nThe allure of Dylan as a songwriter and musician is an obvious one. The attraction to him as a performer is one that many fans and music historians find difficult to understand. Dylan’s onstage presence is very introverted – he does not play for the audience, rather he plays for himself under the solitary principle that it is what he must do to live. This seemingly selfish behavior brings up a serious question on the function of the artist: Is the artist responsible for serving what his or her audience expects, or is it the artist’s role to defy his fans’ intentions for him or her in order to produce art?\nFrom a practical standpoint, one would assume that it is the first set of consequences that makes an artist. Emily Dickinson wrote thousands of poems, none of which brought her acclaim until death opened the vaults to her many writings. Without an audience, Andy Warhol’s “Campbell’s Tomato Soup” and “Marilyn,” would be deemed nothing more than kitschy decorations of the same idiom of the velvet Elvis. Some would argue that the unknown and obscure never spark revolution, be it artistic, social or cultural.\nBut, considering myself an artist, I believe in the second set of consequences. Dylan performed his raucous, revolutionary electric folk style through booing audiences and even threats of death. He was called a sell-out, a pig, a product. After an audience member called out, “Judas” at the Royal Albert Hall concert in 1966, Dylan turned to his band and commanded, “Play fucking loud!” This is the art that is born against the backdrop of an angry fan base. One of the most notable artists of our time’s best-known works are from a period when he was hated by his fans. The artist bows to no one but art. In this, he or she is true.\nMany will say, “Bob Dylan is a revolutionary writer, a tremendous musician, but I mean, he’s not really on when he’s performing,” and rightfully so. But the beauty in live art lies in its truth. \nYou may not be able to hear his words, his rhythms might be off, but he is true in what he believes he is giving artistically. The most perfect form of art is the complete revelation of truth and beauty. It is merely up to the audience to see it.