What is art?
Mel (Mr. Kong) believes art is being mindful of our surroundings and capturing of the inspiring moments.
It is a search within our artistic souls. Besides technique and skill, what he emphasizes more are passion and inspiration. Art has no boundaries in age, race, gender, class and culture. In the past decades, he notices many artists tend to create artworks focusing largely on the commercial values. The intrinsic value of art works is not as pursued. Art tends to become more instrumental and decorative in purpose. Mr. Kong finds this revelation deeply saddening. To a certain extent, he agrees that the monetary value of art is important in a capitalistic society. Yet he also believes that the spiritual value in the experience of making art work should be much more substantial.
What topics do you think are interesting?
Mel finds many Humanistic Hollywood stars very intriguing. Clint Eastwood, Woody Allen, and Charlie Chaplin to name a few who he has painted. These people all revolve around a particular theme which he admires them for: they are all people of talents. They are brilliant in so many fields and they create, just like he does. Contrary to his painting of him, Mel does not like some Celebrity, preaches love and caring for one another but does not practice what he preaches so to speak. I believe this reveals much about what Mr. Kong’s principles and his values.
Why do we need art?
Art is a means of expression and communication, dating back to long before the ancient Greeks and Romans. It is a way to tell stories and have one’s stories last beyond their lifetime. One can experience art and realize what was going on during a specific time or place. Art also allows one to recognize the depth of human emotions and intellect and communicate how one truly feels. It allows one to understand the perspectives of others who may be very different from them and have very different experiences.
Something Mel finds disappointing is how he thinks nowadays society has neglected art and personal depth with a new preference instead being placed on commercial consumerism. He is concerned that some postmodern people have a preference for shallow, homogeneous stories in art over depth, uniqueness and honesty. Contemporary Art has increased in popularity in recent years, and many pieces may not carry any meaning at all and instead exist as commerce status symbols or to incite human’s brutal feelings rather than tell one’s temperament.
These statements reflect Mr. Kong’s appreciation of depth, understanding, honesty, nonconformity, and being unique, which are qualities we can all agree are valuable.
