Art as a verb

by guest blogger Bryan McManus

Art has become a noun in our culture. For example, people say, "I like art." Or, "Hey mom, look at that art." But the word art has a much more interesting history. Our english word art traces its origins back to the greek word ars. Ars is not a noun - but a verb. It literally means, "to fit together, or to join." Somewhere along the course of history we lost this meaning and the richness that goes with it. We made art into a noun - but be assured - Art is a verb. If you art something - you are fitting it together or joining it to something. This can be physical, emotional, cultural, spiritual, mental, etc.

I'll take it one step further. Eirene is another greek work which translates into english as the word "peace". The root of Eirene is eiro-, which also means (you guessed it) to fit together or join.

Art joins things together - it is a verb.

Peace joins things together - it is a verb.

Therefore:

Artmaking is peacemaking.

Food for thought.

A while back I put this video together through CityArts as part of a short lived program called "CitySpeak." It's some thoughts about art - check it out!

http://vimeo.com/17934630