Art or Entertainment....?

           I never intended to write this article, nor did I intend to write again so soon, the last one being something to chew on...but so much was left out in the interest of being concise, that I feel certain important angles were neglected. Being me (as I just told my wife "I have a burr in my bonnet") I just can't let it go at that.
            I was discussing self-expression but without including what the story is with it. We discussed adaptation, and self-expression is one form of adaptation that we come by instinctively.
          Back to nature....I saw a program on PBS several years ago having to do with bird songs and their purpose which I watched with great interest. It sparked my thinking and some ideas from that program connected with my own "puzzle" to help me explain some things.
        Why do birds sing? Why do humans sing? Why does Barry Manilow sing?(good question).
        It seems that birds (and mammals, and other creatures as well)...come up with creative ways to signal their own individuality to the rest of the world. Bird songs may sound all the same to us, particularly among one species, but rest assured to a bird they may be very different (individual) indeed.
       Not just the songs of the birds, but all these expressions of individuality are messages to the general population about certain things. Mainly about health, fitness, intelligence...you guessed it, it's mostly about mating. The intention is to create a "quality experience" in those of the opposite sex which will render you attractive...nay irresistible to all those cuties out there. Then you can choose from among them.
       So Elvis shakes his hips and croons tenderly and melts hearts...but it sounds ludicrous to think that Bach was writing and playing his clavichord to impress the chicks...though it probably worked.
No, for human beings the "quality experience" is a much broader continuum. Unlike the animals, "quality" doesn't necessarily just consist of raising offspring and bettering the race genetically.
     In my own humble opinion, this is where higher functions, leading inevitably to "spirituality" begin to burst forth to enter the picture. (I am NOT taking the stand, as some might guess, of "looking down on the animals". They possess a different sort of spiritual nature, being closer in a sense to that which created them.) 
      I think we are starting to delineate an arena here: are artists and performers the same thing? Is an artists job just to get you excited, make you feel good, forget your troubles temporarily and then get paid for it?...Is being an entertainer a crime? As an artist should I resent performers who make me laugh, or cry etc. but don't really show me anything new, or change my being in any way?
      I can't answer that. It's a free universe (to some extent), you pays your money and pick out what has meaning for you. Whether that is a lasting phenomenon, an important insight for you, opening up a very small door to a very large universe...only you can say.