What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory

by Brian Eno, Bette Adriaanse

Why do we need art?
What Art Does is an invitation to explore this vital question. It is a chance to understand how art is made by all of us. How it creates communities, opens our worlds, and can transform us.

Curious and playful, richly illustrated, full of ideas and life, it is an inspiring call to imagine a different future.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Music, Philosophy, Cultural, Writing, Design

128 pages, Hardcover

Published March 25, 2025

About the author

Brian Peter George Eno, also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and visual artist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambient music and electronica, and for producing, recording, and writing works in rock and pop music. A self-described "non-musician", Eno has helped introduce unconventional concepts and approaches to contemporary music. He has been described as one of popular music's most influential and innovative figures. In 2019, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.

Reviews

[s.penkevich [hiatus-will return-miss you all] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Eno? Say no more…
If you need a little dose of joy, this little book is for you. What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory is a whimsical collaboration between Brian Eno and Bette A. that reminds us how art can bring magic into our lives. ‘Art is where we share dreams (and nightmares),’ Eno writes and shares these dreams with all of us to help us be more mindful of how art can shape our minds, hearts, and do so to better affect change in ourselves and the world around us. ‘Art changes how we feel about feelings,’ he points out, ‘how we notice them, how we respond to them, how we compare them, how we make use of them,’ and through this little book we are taken on a lovely and riveting little ride into the soul of art, accompanied by some rather cute artwork. It is a quick read, but one that will shine into all the artistic caverns of your heart to brighten you from the inside out and bring an optimistic smile and hopefully a bit of inspiration.


One of Eno’s primary concerns is to examine how ‘art is something that punctuates our lives with feelings.’ Art is the closest thing to pure magic left in the world, how a static image or collaboration of words and phrases on a page can evoke a stirring in our hearts or send us soaring into joy, sorrow, hope, or any other torrent of emotional resonance. We think about how color can shape our impressions, how brushstrokes can harness our feelings, how a beat can get us moving and how a melody can harmonize with our souls and feel like the cosmos have aligned across the sound waves. The spark of joy and fun is all part of the art and Eno examines how creating art is similar to how play is important to children. He has us think about ‘how we project our minds into possible futures where we create and test projects that do not presently exist’ not unlike how imaginative play works.

‘In art, we try out new possible worlds and other ways of being, by paying attention to our feelings about them. Art allows us to share complicated concepts and feelings with each other. This cultural conversation opens doors to shifts—in ourselves and in society. Art shepherds change.’

When we consume fictional words or imagine possible worlds that we express through art, we absorb those worlds into our hearts and desires and carry them with us wherever we go. By imagining better worlds we give our hearts a target and can start constructing a map how to arrive at those better worlds from the one we are in now. ‘Meanings are fluid, not eternal: they shift in time and space’ Eno says and through the way we perform language and symbolism through art we can change the meanings or connotations behind words and ideas. It might seem like small changes but small changes amalgamate into big ones.

‘Making art seems to be a universal human activity’

In a world of AI we often think about how creating art is part of what makes us human and every society across history has had it’s own artistic culture. ‘Two things significantly distinguish human beings from other animals: an interest in the past and the possibility of language,’ author Jeanette Winterson writes in the novel Art and Lies, ‘brought together they make a third: Art.’ Art is how we capture the human condition and the spirit of the times but it also helps us sort out what matters to us:

‘What an artist chooses to write or make drawings or songs about, can draw out attention to certain worlds. It tells us that somebody takes something seriously, perhaps finds it beautiful or threatening, and invites us to rethink how we feel about it. The things we care about are the things we make art about. We frame them with our attention. Art is proof of care.’

I find this to be a really beautiful sentiment, how we frame ideas with our attention as if we are the gilded frames holding the artwork in the museum of history. ‘I paint flowers so they will not die,’ artist Frida Kahlo once said, and in this way art is a path to an immortality of sorts.

‘If we want a new world, we have to start making it right now.’

Brian Eno and Bette A. have done a wonderful job and I really enjoyed this bite-sized book on art and why it matters. Also thank you to Stephanie and her review for recommending this one to me. Go out, create art, share art, collaborate, share imagination, share dreams, share inspiration, and share your humanity with all. Art is magic and we can all be magicians.

4/5

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most delightful little books I've ever read.

Eno's approach to art is not only that it's something that brings people together, it's something we all do every single day. Has someone ever complimented you on your outfit, or vice versa? You, or they, made a creative and aesthetic decision in choosing that outfit. You expressed yourself with the clothes you picked out to put on your body. Having someone acknowledge that you made a good decision makes us feel good but it also makes them feel good to recognize your good taste.

Art is all around us and it is pervasive in our daily lives. Eno maintains that we can recognize that and celebrate it in ourselves and in others, and in the process, we can connect to others.

Bette A. is a Dutch artist and her illustrations are a nice accompaniment to Eno's words, but his words are what had the most impact on me.

I'm on the verge of saying that this was a life-changing book for me (as well as the "Eno" documentary, which I have watched several times now). As a hardcore science type, I have never thought of myself as particularly creative. A good friend pointed out a while back, when I wrote often in a blog, that that was certainly a creative endeavor. Perhaps it's time that we all recognize that we are creative in numerous, varied ways, and that this can be an important way to connect to others.

This would be an ideal book to share with a young person interested in art, but anyone of any age could benefit from its simple but mind-blowing concept. I can't recommend this book enough. (And see the documentary if you get the chance!)

[Rhonda Hankins]

Nifty book with playful graphic design to get across messages that might inspire you.

Takes a couple of hours to read but there is plenty in the book to prod you for quite a while.

& a bibliography is a very nice bonus, greatly appreciated.

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like Neil Gaiman's book “Art Matters,” this short essay by Brian Eno, accompanied by Bette Adriaanse's illustrations, tells in a straightforward and simplistic way, what the reasons are for why art came into being and what it “serves,” or better said, what it does.
Between a coffee table book and a children's book.

Molto simile al libro di Neil Gaiman "Art Matters", questo breve saggio di Brian Eno, accompagnato dai disegni di Bette Adriaanse, racconta in modo immediato ed anche piuttosto semplice e semplicistico, quali siano le ragioni per cui l'arte é nata ed a cosa "serve", anzi, cosa fa.
Quasi un libro per bambini,

[Adele]

A bit confused by the tone - is it for children or adults who don’t know much about art and need it explained in simple words? Not very convincing and slightly muddled points about haircuts and gender. The basic premise is good but what is it for?

[John Burroughs · Rating 5 out of 5]

So grateful to Eno for this important collaboration with Bette A and for so much more.

[Chanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful little book. Quick read

[Lay · Rating 4 out of 5]

“There’s a beautiful sculpture by Giuseppe Penone [Alberto porta]. He took a tree trunk and cut away most of the growth of the tree, leaving behind what had been there when the tree was ten years old.

Inside big tree is baby tree. Inside you is little you. It’s always there.”

[Michael G · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, enjoyable manifesto on, literally, what art does that often reads as simply as David Byrne’s lyrics (maybe Eno helped) on “Once in a Lifetime,” which they produced together. I’d relate what I gleaned, but then it would spoil the few central messages of this already brief book.

[Mads · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute! very charming, easily digestible, but full of good ideas and thoughts

[Ezri Baedeker · Rating 3 out of 5]

sometimes you just want a simple ass book about art. This is it.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t believe I’m rating something written by Brian Eno anything less than 5 stars or whatever the maximum is on any grading system. Eno is one of my favorite public figures. I’m dazzled by his artistry and his intellect. And I don’t mean just his music (which is among my most favorite - both his singularly off-beat pop and his ambient). I feel fortunate every time I discover and read another interview or article by him.

I didn't expect a grand thesis (the title makes that clear), but I was left wanting for a little more. Even so, Eno expresses his ideas cogently:

“Art is how adults play. Art is the continuation of play into adulthood. We keep playing as adults because we need to keep learning. Play is research. In art we research our feelings. Artists are feelings merchants–a piece of art is something designed to trigger feelings. Our feelings guide us as we move into new futures, either by tempting us on, or frightening us away” (72).

“Paying attention to the things we love and that make us feel good and happy isn’t an indulgence, but a sensible use of our faculties. That’s why we evolved them. The problem is that those faculties are constantly overwhelmed by things that other people wished that we liked” (77).

“Central to the idea of a cultural conversation is the notion of surrender. Surrender is what we do when we stop trying to control things, when we let something happen to us.

All humans voluntarily engage in activities that involve surrender–sex, drugs, religion, art–and very often these are considered peak experiences. In each of those we deliberately put ourselves into a situation whose reward is to be carried along by something ‘bigger than us.’

Surrender becomes an active verb. It’s a way of stepping back from individualism, stop being ‘me’ for a little while and enjoying being ‘us.’ This voluntary suspension of control allows us to have experiences and feelings that are new to us, that didn’t originate in our conscious brains. Isn’t this what we also call learning?” (104).

“As a species, we’re so phenomenally good at control, that we tend to think it must be the right posture for every problem.

But genuinely novel situations don’t come with ready-made control strategies: we have to understand them by letting them happen to us. If that’s too dangerous, we can simulate them, and let the simulations happen to us.

That’s what we’re doing in art.

If we don’t learn to make a balance between control and surrender, if we only know how to control, we end up in a world shrunken to the bits that we can still control. The raw wild world develops and leaves us behind, playing Solitaire on our phones” (105).

[Cady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Art is feelings and feelings is art <3 really loved this! I feel like we take a lot of art, and what we consider art, for granted when really art is about self-expression and language that’s found in the every day. Really appreciate Eno’s focus on art as a way to connect people together, to imagine different worlds, to understand others and share lived experiences — it’s basic theory that gets forgotten about and under appreciated in this capitalist hellscape. We make art every day, whether we realize or not, just in the way we choose to present ourselves to the world.

[Fae · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you brinkley for this wonderful christmas present <3 quick and easy read, but very important things to say! i really liked the emphasis on play, the different forms of art, and the creative ways that the author showed that art is important. as a museum studies emphasis of art ed, i particularly liked the section where he described museum curators as those who see art as alive, not unfinished, because they take adapting perspectives of the world from all over and put them together to create new contexts. what a fuckin banger!

[Marija Musmirtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Šiaip buvau pradėjus vengti tokių knygučių, kur bandoma su supaprastintu tekstu, neišdailintomis iliustracijomis, schemomis, brėžiniais ir linijomis perteikti idėjas, kurios nėra savaime paprastos (jei knyga būtų hipsteris, tai būtų kažkas iš to žanro). Kiek teko iki šiol tokių skaityt, tai dažniausiai jos būna apie nieką - perskaitai, pabaigi, ir galvoji tai apie ką čia buvo?
Tačiau šita knyga vau kaip puikiai atliko savo paskirtį, nes klausimas nelengvas - tai kas gi yra tas menas?? ir kam? ir kodėl? Taip, supaprastintai, bet neprarandant gylio ir leidžiant pačiam skaitytojui apsižiūrėti aplinkui ir pamatyti pavyzdžius. Ypač norėtųsi tokią knygutę pakišti genAI entuziastams, kad visai nenužmogėtų.

[David Glass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely art. The wisdom is wonderful and concise, yet poignant and silly too. The hand drawn illustrations added a lively and playful dimension to the feeling of reading this book. Brian Eno has such a hypnotic way of describing the human experience whether through spoken or written language.

Two quotes I loved:
"Art is a way of making feelings happen"
"to realize that what we need is already inside us, and that art - playing and feeling - is a way of discovering it."

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a work of art all by itself. Eno and A masterfully break down high philosophy into a warm comfort and cadence similar to that of a children's book. They provide an approachable entry into art appreciation and sociology by inviting a relationship to a shared experience rather than requiring several 1,000 word essays on cubism. In a world that seems so utterly bleak at times right now, this book is a calming presence that reminds us of the importance of the things that make us human and that proffer connection.

[Leo Paes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be mandatory reading in every school. It’s structured as a kids book but deals with very philosophical themes. What is art? What does it do? Why is it important? What’s its impact? All of these and more are answered in very simple terms. Understanding the concepts the book talks about is fundamental in forging a better future for us all.

[Elisabeth Webber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, this book was more of a 3.5 for me. There were quite a few shallow observations and then there were some real zingers such as “play is how children learn/art is how adults play” and “science discovers, art digests.” I would definitely recommend listening to Brian Eno’s Music for Airports while reading this short, little book.

[Julie Meunier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly simple, and thoughtful. This should be required reading for everyone, especially all creatives.

This feels like the kind of book I want to carry around with me just to remind myself why I do what I do.

[Nik Maack · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fairly light and simple philosophy that I appreciated reading. I picked up this book because I heard Brian Eno on the Ezra Klein podcast talking about art. It was great. And I would not call myself a fan of Brian Eno's music.

"Civilization is shared imagination."

[Leah Weyandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The art engagement begins where the functional engagement ends.”

“Art can have a tremendous effect on the world - that is why dictators have been so eager to lock artists away or employ them as propagandists. But art is effective because it is safe.”

[Stuart Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, if very slight, examination of art and its place in society.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book nearly made me study art at uni

[Elizabeth Schaefer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend to everyone! A magnificent, thoughtful and charming book!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“inside big tree is baby tree.
inside you is little you.
it’s always there.”
🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

this was simple yet complex. i had a great time reading it!

[Nick Barone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warm, insightful, inspiring, and the perfect quick coffee read.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful, read-in-one-sitting book about the value of art, large and small, in all our lives.

[Rocio Balboa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pf es perfecto es perfecto

[Enrique Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

simpático librito