The statement “Painting is Dead” will always be a topic of debate! It became a major topic of discussion in the 1980′s during the Fluxus period. Fluxus is Latin for “flowing”, in English flux means a gushing forth, an abnormal discharge of fluid, a fusion, a state of continuous change. Artists such as Joseph Beuys, John Cage and Yoko Ono were participants in this group. The movement still has relevance today as the term in applied to any artist who presents their work in a multi-faceted format. This caused a revolution in the art world where suddenly art could be anything – it was the beginning of installations – Ono is best known for her performance art – a garment cutting act – was now considered ART.As art has developed and expanded over the centuries, so the question of “What is Art” has also developed. Imaging what Renoir thought of Picasso! Would Picasso consider the cutting of clothing as art? Personally I think academia has infringed upon the realm of art to such a degree that people are scared to state an opinion of what they like in case they are “wrong”. It is much like people’s taste in coffee and wine. As creatures blessed with free will, we have to have the courage to state our opinion and stand up and be counted. Make up your own mind and don’t necessarily believe that what the “experts” say is what you should believe.The academics of the science have infringed upon peoples enjoyment and very few are prepared to admit to liking simple things. I think that artists have always liked to shock and surprise the public – much like toddlers – any attention is good attention! Artists tend to like to experiment with ideas and all it takes is for one other person to admire a certain creation for that style to become popular. In my opinion, there are very few artists who paint from the heart simply for the joy of creating something beautiful for others to enjoy.Music and art should leave you feeling some sort of emotion and the best emotions are those which inspire hope and joy in being alive and living in such an amazing world. There is a lot of suffering in the world, but if we focus on the depressing side of things, we will not rise above that to create a more beautiful future for our children.