By Mic Porte
On the second Saturday of every month from 6-10pm, the folks on North Park’s Ray St. host San Diego’s longest running art event: Ray @ Night.
Last week’s event (February 9), held on an unusually crisp San Diego evening, saw the usual friendly crowd of artists and art lovers from all over, locals and tourists alike. The Art Center and a multitude of shops, offices, art and craft galleries opened their doors, and art spilled out onto the street. Vendors of food, clothing, accessories, and objets d’art sprouted along the sidewalks tempting the passers-by.
Until 8pm, when the band starts up, poets (many of them students from San Diego State) take turns at the open microphone set up in the street, sharing their latest. I would call it a “poetry slam”, but “slam” wouldn’t do justice to the sensitivity, wordcraft , and humor, of the poets. Very cool.
Roaming the variety of galleries and craft booths, I wondered “What IS art?”, and so I asked everyone. Here are some of their answers:
“Art is whatever you want it to be.”
-Chaim Bueno from Brooklyn NY selling eyeglasses from a truck
“Expression!” – Andrew Tieman
“All depends on who’s looking at it. Talent is a gift; I’m still learning”
-Tony Enyedy/Buckman Studio
“very subjective/ whatever you want it to be…”
-Robyn and Mike
“Anything is art, you can do anything” – Rana
“overwhelming, so many different kinds of art, hard to describe”
–Chalan
“Art is expression of your feeling,”
– Mariam
“touches your heart and emotions, either ‘floats your boat’ or it’s not interesting” – Dennis
“Art is an emotional expression of a physical thing.”
Architect Chris Bittner
“Art is experience and intention, in color, in line, in space, in time, in shape, in form”
-Jennifer Oliver/ Bryson
“Art who?” -Joe Bauer
“Art is the thing that we saw in the sex shop, ‘Rubber Rose’, that used to be here,
and now is a gourmet food shop called Indulgence, kind of the same thing, I guess… creative expression…”
-Steve and Lorraine
“Art is imagination”
– Deb
“Art is perception” – Maria
“Art is stuff”
-Rick
“Art is the beauty of Mother Earth”
-Marshal, the rock guy
“…reflection of life…” -Geraldo
“creating the living, creativity made live”
-Jackie
“What is art? I’m fine, thank you”
-Tom
“personal expression of an individual who sees life in their own way” -Sid Taylor
“an expression of the person doing it, one person’s art is not another’s”
-Marilyn Cunningham from Michigan out visiting her daughter
“oh geez…an expression of someone’s…something…”
– Suzie Q
“expression of emotion, formal meditation…” -Halima
“art makes me speechless…”
-Pierre
“Art is the human spirit realizing something new”
– Jordan Jackson Gnarly, ceramic-ist
“1st: art is everything, 2nd: art is indefinable, 3rd: art is language” Jordan Cantwell, painter
“oh my God, art is life..”
– Joe and Sady
“Art is the act of inspiring others, and in turn, you, the artist, get inspired.”
-Amy, creative warrior
“I don’t know how to describe it, but I know it when I see it”
-Ricardo de la Playa
“Wouldn’t notice if ‘art’ on Ray St. disappeared, but it’s okay…”
Joel Dreyfuss, 50 year owner of Army/Navy Surplus
“we artists cannot compete… food comes first, in order to enjoy art we must be happily fed…”
— Igor Koutsenko, Russian painter and print master, art classes Wednesday evening at the Art Center.
“Art is produce”
-Art Produce restaurant/gallery
“art is a well-tuned bicycle,”
–Eddy, North Park Bikes, offering bike safety/locks clinics
Come one, come all. Come on out to Ray Street at night. See some art, hear some art, buy some art, support your local artists.
Micaela Shafer Porte
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Art: all reasons transcended
another ridiculous trifle
a rhyme time
artificial river thought
altruistic reconnaissance therein
allowing redemption thankfulness
all right then….