Art as a sport
Of course, art can be a sport when you are a dancer, for example. Any performance like music, dance or theater will have a level of physical activity that is similar to what is considered a sport in general. But I am more interested into looking at the ways art and sport are similar in their effects, and not in their physicality.
I believe Art and Sport fill a similar niche in people’s lives. For some, sport is their go-to entertainment, it’s the most intense experience they can live (look at soccer fans during the final of the world championships if their team is playing, and you’ll see what I mean), their social life revolves around it and it makes them feel better about themselves, physically and mentally.
Art is similar. It’s an entertainment activity: museums, concerts, theatre, TV series are all art under a different shape. It can be extremely intense, especially if you’re creating your own art, but even looking at a painting can provoke a gamut of strong emotions. It is very social because you rarely consume art by yourself, and if you create art, you usually hang out with other artists. Finally, art does wonder for your mental health, and depending on the type of art you practice, your physical health.
I told my family once that my sport was pottery and they laughed at me. Try wedging 2 kilos of clay, and tell me ceramics is not a kind of sport! There is definitely some muscles involved. All right, you’re probably getting more physical health benefits from playing soccer, but art really does wonder for your mental health.
Both physical activity and art are used as a form of therapy for people who are suffering from various mental illnesses or to help kids who are in trouble. So I think art and sport should be best buddies and be recognized for the immense benefits they bring into our lives.
Unfortunately, they’re often seen as enemies. People who love sport look down on art and vice versa. Art lovers think sport’s people are stupid, and sport’s people think art people are full of shit, and find most art (or what they define as art) boring as hell.
The truth is that both are needed in your life. They offer amazing benefits, and most people already practice or consume both. They just don’t always realize that artists make the TV series they love watching, or that watching a dance recital is attending a kind of sporting event. We need to open up our definitions of art and sport.
We also should tell the school system to stop looking down on both sport and art. Why do all the subjects that are good for you are considered superfluous academically? It’s never made sense to me. Although in the USA, sport is actually a way to get a free college education when you’re better at sport than academics, which is kind of ironic! But any way you can get a free education is all right by me. Too bad they don’t do art tournaments and give the best artists a free ride to college as well. Or does that exist and I am just not aware of it?
On a side note, did you know that art competitions were part of the modern Olympic Games from 1912 to 1948 ? Medals were awarded for works of art inspired by sport, divided into five categories: architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. Unfortunately, I’m too late to get an Olympic medal in sculpture.
Art is great and so is sport. They both make you feel better in countless ways. Find the sport/art combo you like and don’t look back. Or just start a new one every two years if that’s your style. If you’re lucky, you’ll even be able to enjoy an artsy sport or a sporty art so you can have your cake and eat it too. But diversity is the spice of life, and if you’re leaning toward practicing karate and watercolors side by side, even though they look incompatible, they’re both going to open up different doors, allow you to meet very different people and use up different parts of your brain. It’s all good. Just do it!
Cover image attribution: Street Art meets Sport by Neil Owen, Street Art meets Sport - geograph.org.uk - 4669876, CC BY-SA 2.0