“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.” ~ Emile Zola

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious - the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.” ~ Albert Einstein

Qu’est-ce que l’art (What Is Art?) is a short film that aims to spark a global conversation around one central question:

What is art and why does it matter?

Our animated short film pays homage to Tolstoy’s seminal 1896 essay and invites viewers to re-ignite the yearning at the heart of the human soul to be part of something greater than itself. We believe art fundamentally enriches the human experience; it brings us together, transcending boundaries of time and place, and invites us to be part of something greater than ourselves.

“Art enables us to find our-selves and lose ourselves at the same time.” ~ Thomas Merton

Our ever more utilitarian society sees little value in art other than entertainment. Pushed to the margins, if art falters or, at worst, becomes irrelevant to our daily lives, we believe some indescribable quality of what it means to be human will be lost. Indeed, “If men lacked this other capacity of being infected by art, people might be almost more savage still, and above all more separat-ed from and more hostile to one another.” ~ Leo Tolstoy.

We are the guardians of cultural memory. What will we bequeath to future generations?

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” ~ Pablo Picasso