With the aid of modern-age technology, our collective society has never been more interconnected than it is today.  From the rapid expansion of the “world wide web”, to the invention of the PNG and MP3 file formats, the advances of the past few decades have allowed cultures not only the mean to express and practice their art in new ways, but also the capability to share this art across borders and time-zones in the blink of an eye.  Though the average “quality” can be debated, it can be said that some regions are even saturated with art exposure and creation.  Yet the question remains, “is art necessary?”  

From an objective standpoint, one can argue that if you give a person enough food, water, and shelter, they will live out their longevity without dying from “artistic withdrawal.”  However, even Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model includes artistic and creative endeavours as a valid construct of the self-actualization tier.  Can something such as art be entirely unnecessary to a society, and yet maintain such strong influence over it?  If art is a valid human necessity, how can its value and worth vary from person to person, and even more curious, can this value even be measured at all?

What do you think?

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