So what can Art do for the Penang Community??

I have no straight answer for the question posted by Paradox Child.. whoever he or she is but thanks for reading my blog. However I can share my thoughts a bit over the matter from an individual artist's perspective having had the opportunity in associating with fellow Penang Artists and Art collectors, supporters and patrons of the Arts.
Art in itself can do nothing for the society that is worthwhile to mention As art is a matter of taste and both of the creator and the audience or viewer, if art is created for the finanacial benifit of artists and collectors than it stops being pure art for it is created with an intention as a means for a livlihood. Hence there is little difference between an artist and an engineer, a cobbler or a cook for that matter, each is an artist in his or her own right. When art is created purely for the joy of creation itself than it has a differant value, it is free from any form of commitment, or pressure to complete in time. These are the works of art that find their way into galleries as they most of the time are more expressive and original in nature. They were created to please no one but for the sake of creativity itself.
As an artist my comments are not meant to criticize the government of the day but to merely share my views and observations based on what i see and hear from all walks of life as being an artist has its advantage in that you are accepted by almost everyone as a neutral and a good listener, unbiased and creative. My comments is for the society as a whole not just those who are in office or runs the country, my comments if it is in the form of a criticism it s aimed at no one or any institution in particular but at the society as a whole. Artist in my opinion are more of an observer, a watcher, one who sees and listens with bare attention, not influenced or prejudice in his or her comments. I may praise you today and condemn you tomorrow depending upon your performance at the time. This is my birth right as a citizen and an artist a commitment to the society he belongs. Most of the time I maintain silence watching and learning and evaluating and coming to my own conclusion,right or wrong is still part and parcel of the process.Most of the time I make a comment even if it just in the form of writing my thoughts and ideas to be evaluated and judged, this is my contribution towards my fellow citizens.
If one or two individuals were to be awakened to the issues I am rambling about and agree or disagree then I have served my society. As an artist it is my intention and duty to bring the awareness of the whole towards what is being missed in the efforts undertaken, the changes being instigated or the ideas being evoked. Artists worth their salt are natural observers as they are able to see intuitively the bigger picture better than most. As I mentioned earlier i am not talking about those who paint for a livng claiming themselves as full time artists or those who teaches art for a living, but i am talking about the artist who lives life itself as an art. He who has sworn to discover himself through his creations, taken the Bodhisatva oath if he happens to be a Buddhist. The medium he uses then is merely a tool for his creativity and he claims no distinction as to who or what he belongs to whether religious or political, race or tribe. Artists strive to become a Universal Being, spiritually free of all entanglements and only in truly achieving this state of mind can he truly claim himself to be the Renaisance Man and serves his society as such. In all his actions, in all that he creates he reflects a free mind of a Liberated Being. I do not claim myself as having achieved this state of mind but it is what i aspire to accomplish as an artist...Insha'Allah. ...God willing.

"The spiritual man is he who does not belong to any religion, to any nation, to any race, who is inwardly completely alone, in a state of not-knowing, and for him the blessing of the sacred comes into being."
J.Krishnamurti