The Subtle Art of Not Being Afraid
July 1, 2025
The Subtle Art of A Thousand Kisses
September 1, 2025The Subtle Art
of Art
by Caroline Efiong
"An artist’s greatest dream is to create something that people can fall into. When I read a good book, I fall into the thoughts, the lives. When I appreciate art, I fall into the image, the story."
My sister and I used to make this joke that some people are so talented that they imbue a part of their energy into the things they create, that’s why they’re so beautiful, and inexplicably wonderful, because there is a piece of a human being reaching from inside, whatever it is, to pull you in.
The idea came from a book by JKSmanga; My Vampire System. There were these weapons and armour forged using something called beast crystals. The forger was so good sometimes that he imbued the weapon with his ki (which is basically his human energy) without knowing, and because of that the weapons would have abilities. Although, it was basically unlocking an ability that the beast in which the beast crystal was gotten from had.
Anyway, it started as a joke that some books are so good because of something like this. I don’t know if something like this can be true, maybe it’s the injection of human energy, emotion, thought and life into it. Obviously, whenever I think of this, prose is the first thing that comes to mind because it’s so easy to be immersed in. It’s long and like jumping into a swimming pool. It’s expressive on account of its natural size of plot. However, let’s look at something that can be agreeably short sometimes. Poetry. Poetry is a very expressive form of art. You have to arouse human feeling with only a few words. I’d say it’s the most condensed genre of literature and yet can be just as expressive as prose or drama.
I like to define poetry as a caption of thoughts. Sometimes poems are simple thoughts given meaning; simple emotions given definition. One of my favourite poems is Quinceañera by Judith Ortiz Cofer. The choice of words is excellent and use of language I would describe as cool and factual as if she is stating things already known. But what really makes it beautiful? When you look at it and try to understand what each line says, it almost doesn’t make sense. What is she talking about, what is she describing. And I guess it’s the context you get from the title that seems the logical answer, but there’s something else that pulls you in. It’s the emotion behind it. It’s about growing up, I think. You fall into it, and imagine what the words describe; it creates an image to sink into. Some poems are like that, I guess it depends on the writer and reader. My point is that human beings have to give something in their creation to reach another person.
I believe what makes something art is its ability to make someone fall into it. When I was in junior secondary school, my Cultural and Creative Arts teacher defined art as a representation of human life. Yes, but I think it goes deeper. Like what makes abstract art appealing, sometimes it’s not representing human life. Dance also can just be there; the rhythmic movement of one’s body doesn’t always represent human life. I think the proper definition would be the representation of human thought, emotion, and energy.
An artist’s greatest dream is to create something that people can fall into. When I read a good book, I fall into the thoughts, the lives. When I appreciate art, I fall into the image, the story. The same goes for all other forms of art, there’s something to fall into. The melody, the harmony, something. And I think to make something that people can fall into you need to put a little bit of your human energy into it. A little of the twinkle in your eye, a little bit of daring and gentle smiles, of the creasing of brows and gritting of teeth, of girlish giggles and hearty laughter, a little bit of what makes us human.
