When we are able to appreciate the creativity and ingenuity of people, we can begin to truly see the beauty that surrounds us in our everyday lives. Art is everywhere, from the designs on our cupcakes to the layouts of our cities and everything in between. It is intrinsic in almost everything that is made by humankind, and that’s an incredibly powerful and eye opening realization. Unfortunately, most people pay no attention to the artistic elements found all around them, reserving their admiration for the fine art they encounter in galleries and/or museums. This is why I started ARTpublika Magazine.
It’s more than about aesthetics. It’s about the duality of human nature. We can be destructive, violent, and dark. But, we can also be amazingly industrious, highly creative, and unbelievably altruistic. When we struggle to understand people’s ability to do something ugly, we can find solace by looking all around us to appreciate people's capacity for and commitment to the creation of beauty. Every stunning bridge, moving film, or thought-provoking book is someone’s attempt, whether conscious or not, to combat and balance out the more uncomfortable parts of human nature; it is an effort to make life more beautiful.
Creativity is one of the most defining markers of humanity. By being mindful of this, each and every one of us can choose where we direct our focus, whether that's on creating art or by learning to appreciate how it influences our daily lives. We can grow to respect the inventiveness, depth, and resourcefulness of humankind, and by doing so, we can aim to forgive people for succumbing to their more ugly drives and desires. In many ways, it is a different kind of art therapy. It is my hope that by creating a magazine that aims to examine different subjects through an artistic lens, we can all learn to appreciate the incredible capacity people have for beauty, one subject at at time.
Thank you for reading ARTpublika Magazine.