If you ask people the question “What does art so?” a lot of them might tell you, that art is something that has no real function, apart from maybe an aesthetic one – at least not compared to architectural design or law or medicine. But without plunging into the depths of philosophical discussions about what art is and isn’t, maybe an easier and more pragmatically useful question is: “What does an artist do?”

We visual artists and creatives make art, therefore we could argue, that we make it with that specific intention of being, well, useless. But talk to anyone in design, architecture, music or theatre, they don’t do useless things. They build houses, make cars, entertain people and tell stories. Why not take a step back and really see the work we do as painters, sculptors or performers as the same. Because we do tell stories, we make objects that turn cold generic apartment spaces into warm and distinct homes, we give people the means to explore and express their personalities. Why then would any one of us think that what we do is useless. Because if non-creative people have such an opinion of our work, they might just not know the full scope of what art can do for them, but the problem is really if creative people come to the same conclusion. Because it just couldn’t be further from the truth.