To Be or Not to Be

To be, or not to be — that is the question ...

Folk art, and art in general, existed long before a banana was taped to the wall.

Before irony became the message, art was about feeling, remembering, belonging. Art was created to comfort and to challenge, to celebrate and to mourn. It held joy, grief, faith, longing, memories.

Folk art lived close to the body and the heart. You touched it, used it, lived with it. Patterns were repeated not because of fashion, but because they felt right — because they carried meaning and continuity.

Colors were never neutral. Red meant life and strength. Gold meant warmth and light. Blue meant depth and distance. Each hue carried emotion, not trend.

Same way fine art, before it turned performative, placed feeling before concept. Skill existed to serve emotion, not to replace it. Art spoke quietly, and the viewer answered with recognition: I feel this too.

Somewhere along the way, as interiors became faster, cheaper, and more disposable, art was reduced to an accessory. Trends replaced meaning. Colors were flattened into grays and whites. Feeling was edited out for the sake of coordination.

So should I comply — and create something gray, with two careful scribbles, ment to match a white sofa? Or should art still dare to speak, to remember, to carry color, history, and soul?

Furniture changes, walls get repainted. Artists depart. But art endures, because feelings endure.