What is Love?
- Written byAndrea Gutierrez
- Published date 24 February 2025
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Post-Grad Community Ambassador Andrea Gutierrez (MA Design for Art Direction at London College of Communication) recently organised a Valentine's Day workshop for students to creatively respond to what Love means to them, through poetry and collage. Here Andrea reports back on the event.
With the sight of roses, presents, and love, another Valentine’s Day came. From couples to friends there is something to celebrate, and this is what got me thinking, what is love?
I decided to create an event where people could help me explore the answer, because it would be more meaningful to understand what others perceive as love and what love means to them in their daily lives.
On February 14th, we gathered at London College of Communication for an evening of community and love.
We kicked things off with a casual conversation to exchange our thoughts and ideas around love and what it means to us. When we question why we love the things we love, there is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and understand better our approach to things. It was my intention for attendees to use the things they love as a source of inspiration for their creative practices.
For some finding things to love is easier, for others it seemed like a bigger challenge. I wonder if we associate love with romantic partnerships or with the bigger events in life, but there is something so special in finding love in the ordinary.
Watching the sunrise from a balcony can be love, as someone mentioned. Talking non-stop to your friends about nonsensical topics can be another expression of love, another argued.
And it got us realising how much we actually love-or the amounts of love we are surrounded by each day.
To continue with our exploration, I asked attendees to write a poem based on the things they loved! This was a very interesting activity to facilitate and to observe. It’s a very rewarding feeling to see how people immerse themselves in the creative flow once they hit something that truly motivates them, even if at first it seems silly (like an ode to Willem Defoe). Even pints got a poem dedicated to them!
As the night progressed, we felt more in sync with what we agreed love is. Love doesn’t even have to be explained or have a singular explanation. To everyone love had different meanings or stages. There were those who are recovering from a break-up, and a conversation about love meant finding themselves again.
Love can also take us to negative emotions. It’s the in-between happiness and moments in which we experienced the lack of it. But we tried to acknowledge that love is always around us.
Having a moment after a busy week to connect with our community can also be a manifestation of love.
To continue our evening of crafts and poetry, everyone got to illustrate their poems with a collage. Amidst old magazines, newspapers, scraps, and colours, we saw our beloved things come to life.
Illustrating a poem about the things we love means envisioning our love and bringing it to life, in a tangible form for others to appreciate, and perhaps allow them to understand why we love the things we love.
This was a wholesome night, in which I got to learn how love takes form in different ways and plays a different role in people's lives. I consider it important to cherish anything around us that can be considered love. It is not about a giant celebration on a date in the calendar, it happens daily, and the question transformed from ‘what is love?’ to ´How much love am I surrounded by?’
I hope everyone took a loving lesson with them, and seeing their love come to life offered a tender moment of connectivity. What is love if not something to be shared.
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