Who said there are only five love languages?
For the past 30 years, romantics have turned to the five love languages—popularized by American author Gary Chapman in the 1990s—to try and understand what sort of lover they are and what kind of love they desire in return. The five love languages are quality time, acts of service, receiving gifts, words of affirmation, and physical touch. But there’s more to love than what fits neatly within these five categories.
There’s a sixth love language that’s hard to classify but undeniable to feel—and that’s art. Every novel dedicated to a loved one, every song a couple takes turns composing, and every sculpture created in a partner’s likeness is brimming with love.
A clear fusion of love and art has recently hit the mainstream music scene as Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco released their first collaborative album, I Said I Love You First, on March 21. For these two A-listers, creating art together and for each other appears to have brought them closer together.
Their collaboration suggests art itself is a deep form of love language. Some might argue making art together falls under quality time, but the intimacy and honesty required when creating something—especially as a couple—transcend the boundaries of the original five.
Given Gomez is a pop singer and Blanco is a songwriter and producer, it feels natural that the couple would merge their talents to encapsulate their love through a shared artistic project. The two had previously worked together on Gomez’s 2015 Revival album, with Blanco co-producing songs like “Same Old Love” and “Kill ‘Em With Kindness,” but this marks their first collaboration while engaged.
Gomez spoke positively about Blanco’s role as her producer, saying she felt truly listened to. Both artists said the album is a testament to how much they love each other and it has brought the pair closer together.
By creating something meaningful with one another, Blanco and Gomez are leaving a legacy of love that doesn’t resemble traditional celebrity displays of affection or fit into the classic five love languages. Instead, their album embodies love in a new way—each track is a memory or conversation between the lovebirds.
The beauty of art as a love language is that it can be private and public all at once—a way of inviting the world in while still keeping something sacred. I Said I Love You First is an artistic project built out of a couple’s love for one another and for their craft.
Of course, this isn’t the first time love has shaped a creative work. At the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2010, Serbian performance artist, Marina Abramović, showcased the exhibit: “The Artist is Present.” In this project, Abramović sat in silence for eight hours a day, inviting the audience to sit across from her at her table, without touching or speaking to one another. The project investigates time, and human vulnerability—how to speak without speaking.
The piece took an emotional turn when Abramović was ed at the table by her ex-lover who she hadn’t seen in over 20 years—German performance artist, Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen). The pair met in 1976, creating provocative pieces together like “Relation in Time” where they tied their hair together for 17 hours, and “Rest Energy” where they balanced on opposite sides of a bow and arrow. If Ulay slipped, the arrow would pierce Abramović’s heart. The trust required for “Rest Energy” shows love through art on an unnerving scale but serves as a metaphor for the openness and trust that creating together requires.
The couple parted ways in 1988, and Ulay’s appearance in 2010 was their first time reuniting since. In the legendary reunion caught on camera, Abramović opens her eyes to Ulay and they smile at one another, their eyes flooding with tears. Eventually, Abramović reaches out to grab his hands, breaking her own no- rule. Though the two are silent, viewers can see all that’s being said between the couple in a single look.
Their art performance is powerful because it’s real.
Whether it’s a new pop album or a poetry collection, love is all around us. Such art wouldn’t exist without love and should have a place in the conversations discussing how it’s expressed.
For artists everywhere, loving someone else is intrinsically tied to their craft, creating a sixth love language that can move even the coldest hearts.
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