It’s very excited to hear about Alain De Botton’s new book.

Actually, he’s got two new book out at the moment.

  • Art as Therapy.
  • The News: A User’s Manual.

As a musician and artist I’m fascinated by his commentary about Art being a form of therapy.

“How is Art a form of therapy? Isn’t it just something on the wall that supposed to reflect privilege?”

He takes a look at a variety of art works and tries to isolate the benefits of them to the viewer. If we take a given work of art, forget about the date, context and the creator, and consider how spending a few minutes with the work might affect self, we might come away with some interesting insights into how art can be useful.

Does August Friedrich Albrecht Schenck’s paint of a mother losing a child in the dead of winter, surrounded by hungry crows, have any affect on you? Do you allow yourself the time to reap the benefits of such a painting? Is it important and valuable?

Is art part of your routine?

As an artistic creator I’m also very interested in not only the consumption of art, but also the creation of art. I wish people were less self conscious and precious with their expression.

I’m looking forward to reading Alain’s new books!