“Escape into Reality” is a Painting/Sculpture from Czech artist, Michael Trpák. It is made of cement, wood, and acrylic paint.  In the description of his work, Michael tackles 2 of the biggest questions in the art world: What is Art & Why does Art Matter?  I’ll let you read it for yourself:

“Escape into reality is a combination of a painting, a relief and a sculpture, it outlines a transition between real and virtual world, between 2d and 3d form, between sensed and tangible … Art tries to be new and discovering, so is an artist a scientist or an inventor? Modern art is a conceptual one and it can seldom defend itself, so does it make an artist a rhetorician or a philosopher? If art needs a form to convey an idea, should an artist be a skillful craftsman? If art is supposed to be digital, is an artist due to be an expert on information technologies? Is an artist a diplomat or a strategist who can present nothing like something and make the viewers believe in it? Who actually is still an artist and who is not? As long as an artist can be all and exercise anything, why everybody is not an artist? Will any object become a piece of art being exhibited in a gallery and will a person who places an object in a gallery become an artist? What is then the purpose of art? – To convey an idea or draw attention by means of a special, ingenious or more sophisticated form to things around us? Or should art be made use of as an aesthetical supplement and is more likely to be the design? If art is supposed to be another form of communication, does it need any commentary? Or – is art something what is useless and that´s why there are galleries to make it usable? As it is difficult to find a boundary between real and virtual, it is impossible to limit the art. I don´t know what a painting thinks about itself if it does think anything at all, nor I know if form is important for art. Supposing there is no form, energy, which can be turned into form, remains ……… Boundaries don´t exist……………”

To me, art is simply creativity, and in this broad sense, art is in all of us.  While I don’t identify everyone as an “artist,” I believe we all have the capacity to make art.  As Greek philosopher Aristophanes said in the 4th century B.C., “Let each man exercise the art he knows…”  But how do you determine if art is “good”?  Of course that is open to interpretation, but I personally appreciate art for its ability to inspire and make us think in a novel and exciting way, just as Michael Trpák has accomplished here.

Find more from the artist here.

-RSB

[via Juxtapoz]