Ongoing Stream of Thought for the Winter Spring 2008 term...
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Welcome & We're off!
Hello Everyone,
All by my lonesome I have succeeded in creating this blog! Let's start off with the following question: how do you know when you are making creative progress?
in response... when I start making all kinds of connections, forget about time, stop plodding, start running, see up until the next bend in the road, speak in tongues, walk fearlessly through Photoshop without getting lost create haiga in a single bound rise up in the middle of the night
When I move onto the next project and lack back at the last one and see how I could have improved it... And evidently I do have a blogspot, I just didn't know it... So mwkdesigns, is JJ in case I for get to put my name at some point in time which I will most certainly do.-J<3
I also need to proof before I post it was suppose to say look back, not lack back and forget, is one word, and I don't know how to use commas. Will try to do better in the future for all the grammar Nazis out there.
Hi everyone, I'm pretty sure we can't insert photos into the comment section when responding. If you have a website, Flickr, Shutterfly, account etc. you can add the link to the photos. This would be a way to show works in progress, etc. Kathy
I understand Susan is having a hard time getting into the blogspot, but I'm not sure why.
My answer to my own question is that I know I'm making creative progress when my capacity to simply follow a thread (in whatever medium) exceeds my need to either tighten my grip (creative agency) or judge my work as it is beginning to emerge. I am quite sure at this point that this companionable, relaxed sort of ambling through something to the next place is both rigorous and highly productive as a state of mind, and I trust (at 48!) that it will lead me to where I needed to go to.
Measuring creative progress for me is something that is done after the work is complete. Sometimes I look at a blank panel and feel very overwhelmed, and other times I am so inspired that I rush steadfastly to get on to the next panel. It is easy to find myself not taking risks. Right now I am struggling with the different eras of my graphic novel, I have poured my energy into Spain in 1937. Now that I am working on a little league game with the character I miss Spain. So I guess the long and short of my comment is: Finding a departure from what I love, and nurturing new growth.
I have had criticism completely breakdown my creative progress. Sometimes it helps to deconstruct your own process. It is often short bursts of creative energy before I make anything that I feel like I am making “creative progress.” Essentially clear thinking and a certain mindfulness prompts a successful “creative climate” and then I am ready to dip the brush in the ink.
I also made a blogspot so you can view the progress of my graphic novel.
Maybe third time is the charm...I know I am making creative progress when I am so immersed in what I am doing theat time and space seem to disappear. This can happen not only with making art, but also with reading, writing, cooking, laundry, almost anything. The portal opens and creative juices run free.
My work deals a great deal with impermanence, as well as technology’s role in nature and the blurring of a virtual world and reality. I came across an amazing German artist named Thomas Demand; he constructs these sets and photographs these very eerie and atmospheric installations. His work demystifies his reality and the collective visual language we all belong to. It seems he has a particular way of looking, a scene almost buzzing with stillness.
Check it out!!!!!!! http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/61/PaperThin_Reality.html
Question: A great deal of our culture interacts with a virtual world, does art perpetuate this technological lust or can it be a method of change?
I know I am making creative progress when I am focused. At times it seems like I have a million ideas in my head at once. I try to take the time to think through those I can accomplish. I find I progress more quickly and intensely focusing on only one (ok maybe 3) pieces rather than spreading myself out over ten. Also, unfinished work drives me crazy. My focus helps my committment to the piece to completion and gives me the sense I am making progress. Kathy
Hello Everyone! Sorry for the delay to join the conversation. Between my kids not having school because of a rat infestation and battling the flu in myself, it has been a challenge to get into my studio. This is a really good question about "creative progress" because I so often get in these moments where life puts up obstacles (like right now). What I have learned is that I am always stewing over something. My creative progress is always moving forward. I will hear something my kids say or a comment on the news or when watching a bird in my backyard that will pick up a thread of conversation I have been having related to my work. some days it is only a quick scribble in my notebook and other days it is a six hour spillage in my studio. This seems very similar to what Susan said "time and space disappear". Peter- thanks for your blogspot address. I will check it out.
I hope you are all off to a great start of the semester! Tina www.tinahirsig.com (my work is posted here)
In response to Peter's new thread about technology: I am interested in the agility and potential of virtual interactions and communications, but distrustful, to some extent, of the way they are simply analogous to the mind's inherent capacities, and might also induce sloth in terms of developing these more fully.
Absent a grid (electricity, etc.), we would have to evolve, of course, in the ways that computers have helped us to do so but have left us highly dependent in the process. The question for me is, how can I take advantage of these new technologies, ways of communication and circulation, while at the same time finding corresponding (and greater!) power in my own mind and heart that will ensure the more durable, long-term flow of ideas between us?
Also, welcome Tina! I liked your comment about "simmering" though that's not how you put it. We householders must have faith in what might feel dormant for the moment but will nevertheless be brought to a boil in good (or the right) time!
Well this blog thing has been tuff. I just wrote a great response only to have it wiped clean after creating my account, so here's the second draft. When I create I have some indescribable emotion that is located somewhere in my chest. The greater the piece, the greater the feeling, and likewise for a mediocre piece. I know when I have hit the spot when my movements are fluid and I am smiling. If anything feels awkward then it shows. Yesterday I got through a piece that my be my best yet, I was in a perfect mind frame and all my movements were powerful and graceful, I can also tell that something great is happening if I think about it after I leave the studio and can't wait to get back, so with that note I am leaving for my studio. Now that I know how to get here I'll try to be more current with my responses, I miss you all already, take care Jason.
Hi, everyone: It is great to read all your comments and catch up a bit. I have been down with bronchitis--returning to normal--and glad of the weekend. The good part was having lots of time to read.
I have a concern that technology sometimes becames a master rather than a servant. It seems sad in a way that people email folks sitting an office away. And email becomes a dangerous tool for emotionally laden communications, lacking tone, inflection, and body language to make meaning more accessible. At the same time, I would not want to give it up entirely.
Concerning art I think technology can be a method of change. The vast amount of resources, information and images available in our virtual world expand our own. Before the virtual world our view and our society was limited to more localized information.
As a self taught artist the virtual world has given me a broad perspective in which to gain knowledge, connect with others and explore. This facilitates faster learning and more specific information I can use in my own art practice. The use of technology as a means to create art is limitless just as it is without it. I think technology is another tool in the artist’s repertoire that can be used when needed to execute a vision.
Interacting and communicating in the virtual world while more impersonal can be a positive. Sometimes the delay in feedback generates a more thoughtful response. I also think some may ‘say more’ through writing than they would dare to face to face.
In 1966 Dick Higgins a fascinating fluxus artist wrote an essay on “intermedia.” Although this is obviously dated I really liked the way he encouraged the use of technology as a vessel that merely guides the creative process. With the growth and invention of new technology our sensitivities have changed, and as artists we begin to find a new way of looking. A whole new language of technology helps to reinvent our processes and our critical approach towards our cultural vantage point.
The media changes to suit the social context and therefore as artists our tools may change but our transcendence of the medium whether it is paint on canvas or installation video remains the same. This essay for me has taught me that real social, political, change occurs through the media we may condemn and blame for the worlds problems. Perhaps the greatest change occurs within the system. A balance, a certain reverence towards the media and a certain dissatisfaction is where we find ourselves.
In the midst of packet responses I am in some liminal blog-space between Peter's musings-- compelling-- & Susan's new question. Inspiration: I never wait for it-- the "it" being the mystified kind of inspiration that interrupts your shower or wakes you up at night & causes you to create something in that pent-up & volatile moment-- but daily I find inspiration in the ordinary "detritus" of my life: something someone says, my own observations, the way something in the past resonates with the present moment. All of it informs my work & the discipline of seeing, listening, reading, making well & continuously.
Thanks for all of your packets, friends. I'm making my way through them, but the weekend, with 18 people in our house, is sure to interrupt!
Rick, it sounds like your house is filled with energy--I hope the weekend is a wonderful one. For me inspiration is all around; it might be a thought triggered by reading, or by the turn of a leaf in the wind, or a word spoken by a friend, or an art exhibition. I know also that the ideas catalyzed are ephemeral, so I am never without a sketchbook to jot down the image or thought. Sometimes they simmer for a long time before emerging in art (or in life). Wishing each of you peace and joy, Susan
As a younger person I always thought inspiration was locked away in some exotic city. An intangible emotion vacant and fleeting, I try to gaze past the monotony of everyday life. There seems to be two parts of being an artist. One part is the numbers person who deals with the administrative part of being a human, the other is the one aflame. There are times where inspiration feels distant and separate. I can see why they locked-up Egon Scheile or why Van Gogh shot himself in the stomach in a cornfield. We all walk the path alone. For me inspiration comes out of that monotony and transcendence beyond the here and now. At times life is hard, there is loss and there is growth. Before any great body of work is made there is conflict. So inspiration isn’t locked in a vault at the Louvre or found in New York City, inspiration for me is being content with the mundane, letting moments find you and pass effervescently through you. The moments that truly inspire are found internally.
As a younger person I always thought inspiration was locked away in some exotic city. An intangible emotion vacant and fleeting, I try to gaze past the monotony of everyday life. There seems to be two parts of being an artist. One part is the numbers person who deals with the administrative part of being a human, the other is the one aflame. There are times where inspiration feels distant and separate. I can see why they locked-up Egon Scheile or why Van Gogh shot himself in the stomach in a cornfield. We all walk the path alone. For me inspiration comes out of that monotony and transcendence beyond the here and now. At times life is hard, there is loss and there is growth. Before any great body of work is made there is conflict. So inspiration isn’t locked in a vault at the Louvre or found in New York City, inspiration for me is being content with the mundane, letting moments find you and pass effervescently through you. The moments that truly inspire are found internally.
I'm of a similar mind of inspiration coming from the dailyness of things. And Susan, for starting this I thought of you:
There is an old Irish story of the hero Fionn Mac Cumhail. Fionn asks his followers, “What is the finest music in the world?” They suggest answers: the cuckoo calling from the hedge, the ring of a spear on a shield, the baying of a pack of hounds, the laughter of a gleeful girl. “All good music,” agrees Fionn. “But what is best?” they ask. Fionn answers: “The music of what happens.”
Music is a fundamental component of my writing. I often need to hear it before I can write and to "see" the image. I see what is in front of me--the trees in the window, the traffic, the cold March rain.
Today I met with a social work intern who was able to recall the "music" of an image of her own time in preschool where she was able to maneuver a situation where she felt little and powerless, just by her persistance and in the retelling she could see how this was replayed in her work with a preschool child who was, in today's terminology, resistant, but now she was reframing as tenacious.
I felt a echo in that music of spirit working in so many ways with and within us--healing ways, understanding ways, putting new spirit into old images.
I am inspired by random happenings around me...trails in the grass behind the mower (lawn art), subtle reflections in a window, a rock lined with time, the random acts in color at my feet I intend to frame some day. However, I am most inspired by music. It makes me move and occupies my mind. I seek to find intrinsic images which my thoughts overpower at times. Music, the louder the better, drowns out my over-thinking and allows the intrinsic nature of my work to escape and evolve. Essentially, I try to let the music take over so I get out of my own way. It breaks down my self-imposed boudaries. I am also fascinated by Abstract Expressionist artists who inspire the manner in which I approach my own work.
Hi, everyone: I am enjoying your responses, and Deborah, thanks for the Irish story! I will remember that one. We are a fortunate group, in that we see inspiration everywhere. I wanted to add that you all, your answers, our times together at Goddard, inspire me as well. Sometimes I just picture us in our circle of conversation at the Cottage; that feeds my soul. Susan
Often times it seems huge cultural movements and the sway of isms move beyond the control of the individual. Lately I have been interested in how writers and visual artists have changed the course of history with their art. In some ways it is for the better and sometimes it is for the worst. Art is a major component of war. Sometimes a lever to uplift the morale of people and sometimes it is also a medium of oppression. I feel that as artists we overlook the impact of our own craft in relationship to public morale and its effect locally and internationally on change.
-I was wondering what artists or thinkers you think have had a great impact culturally, politically or socially on change? Perhaps you can underline a specific work that can attest to this concept. Is this a thematic device that influences the way you approach your work?
-I am really looking forward to everyone’s response. I am sure this will be a great dialog and an opportunity to share our feelings on this subject along with some insight to the artists and writers we may be unaware of.
Peter, thanks for this question, keeping the thread of creativity going.
I am very taken with Henri Cartier Bresson, the photographer who brought forth the concept of "the decisive moment". As artists we are witnesses, but not ones who report the facts. We are shaped by our personal histories and our cultures. Bresson likes the immediacy of the photographic image, the pattern and the line. There is much hidden in his black and white photgraphs. He travels countries and continents. His work is full of humanity and tenacity.
I also am reminded of the quote by Adrienne Rich about being concern about two things in life--the sources from which she draws her strength and with whom she will cast her lot. She is so moved by all that cannot be saved and she puts her lot with those who work to work for change.
Her words also are about decisive personal moments, but also about the course of society--like Bresson tenacious and direct.
Hope your G4P3 is going well. I am enjoyed solar printmaking a great deal! Best, Deborah
Hi, everyone: Peter, what a great question! It set me thinking about the many artists who have impacted our world. To name just a few: Frida Kahlo, who gave expression to both her Mexican heritage and her personal story, thus inviting others to look at their cultural legacies and personal histories as sources for inspiration and change; Kathe Kollwitz, who made vividly present the horrors of hunger, poverty, war, and loss, and one of my current favorites, Anselm Kiefer, who for many years now has created works that examine German history and culture, the Holocaust, and the role of the artist as change agent.
Good thoughts to all for each day--and Packet 4! Susan
As a painter I immediately thought of Jackson Pollock as one of the great artists that has impacted our society. The outward spontaneity of his action paintings demonstrated a refusal to traditional methods. It also left interpretation wide open. His paintings encouraged change in the way our culture perceives and responds to art that is still evident today. He also was an inspiration to other artist to follow that change.
The other artist I thought of was Robert Smithson. His Earth Art, like Pollock's, initiated a sense that art is boundless and limitless. The impact of both of these artists is evident in the continuation of their styles today.
Thanks for your question, Kathy. It led me off on a trail that began with another question: what is reality? Certainly there is tangible reality; there are also facts. Beyond that, there is perception, emotion, dreams, spirit...and for me, those are all facets of reality along with many others. Story telling, for example, can be seen as a different sort of reality than the factual reporting of a journalist. So does art transcend reality, or does it reflect it in its myriad expressions and possibilities? Is art a different kind of story? Is a new reality created every time a new person views and responds to an art work? You definitely have given me a lot to think about, Kathy, and for that I am most grateful. Happy Packet 5 to everyone! Warmest regards, Susan
Kathy, I think this is a multi-faceted question that can be looked at differently however you are holding this jewel of a question.
I sense that reality and art are fluid and respond to each other. People create art based on their realities and to influence those same realities. Art may be a way of helping to understand and negotiate the day to day experiences one has. Reality itself is shaped by art. Many cultures have elements and symbols that give a certain context. I am thinking about the artist Fernando Llort. He painted the front of the cathedral in San Salvador with a combination of traditional symbols, vibrant colors and artifacts of Salvadoran culture. In both cases reality and art are "working" together to create a vision that says look to the future we create as people.
I think that reality is art--in our reflection and interpretation. Our art is reality when it is embraced for the insight, truth and beauty that is communicated. Both reality and art are very powerful individually as forces and when combined.
Thanks for your question. Much to think about as I am coming back from a 10 day service trip to El Salvador at the Center for Peace through the Arts in Suchitoto.
I'm supposed to bring this full circle with something to chew on at the end of the semester. . .
Just finishing packet 5 and my Practicum project had me thinking about a couple of things--One is what happens when we finish a project--a poem, a book, a painting, yes, a Practicum. Is there elation, then let down?
How do we cycle through the emotions of such engagement and then letting it all go--and then beginning again. How do we shift gears.
Any thoughts on this? Any piece of this?
Finally got electricity back in Jersey after thos late spring storms! So I'm back on the internet again.
If I am truly satisfied with a finished piece I almost always experience an emotional let down. Sometimes it’s just a huge sigh of relief, other times it’s fear to my expectancy to do something as successful or better. This period seems to be an incubation time with new ideas accumulating in my mind about what I will start next. Then a sorting out of a million ideas into one I can visualize and proceed with. Lasting about 2-4 weeks.
One reason I like being in this program is this time is cut down sufficiently due to deadlines which projects me into action quicker. A kind of ‘just do it’ instead of incessant ‘thinking about it’ mentality.
I shift gears from the let down into action when the anxiety of not creating builds up. Then I often just go into the studio and start something, anything to get going again. I often start a piece over and over again. This helps me realize that what ever I begin is not etched in stone and most likely will be painted away next time. It’s really just the process of creative action that drives me and as long as I keep at the process I am confident the piece will evolve into something I can commit to.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at residency, Kathy
Another great question! I think of my favorite Heraclitus quote: "All reality is sustained in existence by the dynamic tension of opposites." In a way, all of life--and death--is about engagement and release. From the smallest changes to the greatest, from the best gifts to to the most painful losses, this is the cycle we experience. So it seems to me no accident that the same wheel turns in our experience of art making.
I am really eager to see you all again at Goddard. Warmest regards, Susan
39 comments:
I know when I am making creative progress when my work is flowing, my energy is high, and I am at peace.
Kathy
Thanks for getting this going.
in response...
when I start making all kinds of connections,
forget about time,
stop plodding, start running,
see up until the next bend in the road,
speak in tongues,
walk fearlessly through Photoshop without getting lost
create haiga in a single bound
rise up in the middle of the night
Deborah
When I move onto the next project and lack back at the last one and see how I could have improved it... And evidently I do have a blogspot, I just didn't know it... So mwkdesigns, is JJ in case I for get to put my name at some point in time which I will most certainly do.-J<3
I also need to proof before I post it was suppose to say look back, not lack back and forget, is one word, and I don't know how to use commas. Will try to do better in the future for all the grammar Nazis out there.
Hi everyone,
I'm pretty sure we can't insert photos into the comment section when responding. If you have a website, Flickr, Shutterfly, account etc. you can add the link to the photos. This would be a way to show works in progress, etc.
Kathy
I understand Susan is having a hard time getting into the blogspot, but I'm not sure why.
My answer to my own question is that I know I'm making creative progress when my capacity to simply follow a thread (in whatever medium) exceeds my need to either tighten my grip (creative agency) or judge my work as it is beginning to emerge. I am quite sure at this point that this companionable, relaxed sort of ambling through something to the next place is both rigorous and highly productive as a state of mind, and I trust (at 48!) that it will lead me to where I needed to go to.
Peter? Jason? Susan, try again!
Tina?
Measuring creative progress for me is something that is done after the work is complete. Sometimes I look at a blank panel and feel very overwhelmed, and other times I am so inspired that I rush steadfastly to get on to the next panel. It is easy to find myself not taking risks. Right now I am struggling with the different eras of my graphic novel, I have poured my energy into Spain in 1937. Now that I am working on a little league game with the character I miss Spain. So I guess the long and short of my comment is: Finding a departure from what I love, and nurturing new growth.
I have had criticism completely breakdown my creative progress. Sometimes it helps to deconstruct your own process. It is often short bursts of creative energy before I make anything that I feel like I am making “creative progress.” Essentially clear thinking and a certain mindfulness prompts a successful “creative climate” and then I am ready to dip the brush in the ink.
I also made a blogspot so you can view the progress of my graphic novel.
beckettsnexus.blogspot.com
Maybe third time is the charm...I know I am making creative progress when I am so immersed in what I am doing theat time and space seem to disappear. This can happen not only with making art, but also with reading, writing, cooking, laundry, almost anything. The portal opens and creative juices run free.
It must be time to stir the pot a little.
My work deals a great deal with impermanence, as well as technology’s role in nature and the blurring of a virtual world and reality.
I came across an amazing German artist named Thomas Demand; he constructs these sets and photographs these very eerie and atmospheric installations. His work demystifies his reality and the collective visual language we all belong to. It seems he has a particular way of looking, a scene almost buzzing with stillness.
Check it out!!!!!!!
http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/61/PaperThin_Reality.html
Question:
A great deal of our culture interacts with a virtual world, does art perpetuate this technological lust or can it be a method of change?
I know I am making creative progress when I am focused. At times it seems like I have a million ideas in my head at once. I try to take the time to think through those I can accomplish. I find I progress more quickly and intensely focusing on only one (ok maybe 3) pieces rather than spreading myself out over ten. Also, unfinished work drives me crazy. My focus helps my committment to the piece to completion and gives me the sense I am making progress.
Kathy
Hello Everyone!
Sorry for the delay to join the conversation. Between my kids not having school because of a rat infestation and battling the flu in myself, it has been a challenge to get into my studio. This is a really good question about "creative progress" because I so often get in these moments where life puts up obstacles (like right now). What I have learned is that I am always stewing over something. My creative progress is always moving forward. I will hear something my kids say or a comment on the news or when watching a bird in my backyard that will pick up a thread of conversation I have been having related to my work. some days it is only a quick scribble in my notebook and other days it is a six hour spillage in my studio. This seems very similar to what Susan said "time and space disappear". Peter- thanks for your blogspot address. I will check it out.
I hope you are all off to a great start of the semester!
Tina
www.tinahirsig.com (my work is posted here)
In response to Peter's new thread about technology: I am interested in the agility and potential of virtual interactions and communications, but distrustful, to some extent, of the way they are simply analogous to the mind's inherent capacities, and might also induce sloth in terms of developing these more fully.
Absent a grid (electricity, etc.), we would have to evolve, of course, in the ways that computers have helped us to do so but have left us highly dependent in the process. The question for me is, how can I take advantage of these new technologies, ways of communication and circulation, while at the same time finding corresponding (and greater!) power in my own mind and heart that will ensure the more durable, long-term flow of ideas between us?
Also, welcome Tina! I liked your comment about "simmering" though that's not how you put it. We householders must have faith in what might feel dormant for the moment but will nevertheless be brought to a boil in good (or the right) time!
Jason,
are you there?
Well this blog thing has been tuff. I just wrote a great response only to have it wiped clean after creating my account, so here's the second draft. When I create I have some indescribable emotion that is located somewhere in my chest. The greater the piece, the greater the feeling, and likewise for a mediocre piece. I know when I have hit the spot when my movements are fluid and I am smiling. If anything feels awkward then it shows. Yesterday I got through a piece that my be my best yet, I was in a perfect mind frame and all my movements were powerful and graceful, I can also tell that something great is happening if I think about it after I leave the studio and can't wait to get back, so with that note I am leaving for my studio. Now that I know how to get here I'll try to be more current with my responses, I miss you all already, take care Jason.
Could we possibly move peter's question to a new thread, I got a little confused while reading everything-J<3
Hi, everyone:
It is great to read all your comments and catch up a bit. I have been down with bronchitis--returning to normal--and glad of the weekend. The good part was having lots of time to read.
I have a concern that technology sometimes becames a master rather than a servant. It seems sad in a way that people email folks sitting an office away. And email becomes a dangerous tool for emotionally laden communications, lacking tone, inflection, and body language to make meaning more accessible. At the same time, I would not want to give it up entirely.
Responding to Peter’s question.
Concerning art I think technology can be a method of change. The vast amount of resources, information and images available in our virtual world expand our own.
Before the virtual world our view and our society was limited to more localized information.
As a self taught artist the virtual world has given me a broad perspective in which to gain knowledge, connect with others and explore. This facilitates faster learning and more specific information I can use in my own art practice. The use of technology as a means to create art is limitless just as it is without it. I think technology is another tool in the artist’s repertoire that can be used when needed to execute a vision.
Interacting and communicating in the virtual world while more impersonal can be a positive. Sometimes the delay in feedback generates a more thoughtful response. I also think some may ‘say more’ through writing than they would dare to face to face.
Kathy
In 1966 Dick Higgins a fascinating fluxus artist wrote an essay on “intermedia.” Although this is obviously dated I really liked the way he encouraged the use of technology as a vessel that merely guides the creative process. With the growth and invention of new technology our sensitivities have changed, and as artists we begin to find a new way of looking. A whole new language of technology helps to reinvent our processes and our critical approach towards our cultural vantage point.
The media changes to suit the social context and therefore as artists our tools may change but our transcendence of the medium whether it is paint on canvas or installation video remains the same. This essay for me has taught me that real social, political, change occurs through the media we may condemn and blame for the worlds problems. Perhaps the greatest change occurs within the system. A balance, a certain reverence towards the media and a certain dissatisfaction is where we find ourselves.
It is a quick read, check it out.
Hope all is well-
Peter
http://www.artpool.hu/Fluxus/Higgins/intermedia2.html
I am mindful thast I am first up to pose a question for our group, after the exchange launched by Rick. Where do you turn for inspiration?
Happy Packet 2 to us all.
Warm regards,
Susan
In the midst of packet responses I am in some liminal blog-space between Peter's musings-- compelling-- & Susan's new question. Inspiration: I never wait for it-- the "it" being the mystified kind of inspiration that interrupts your shower or wakes you up at night & causes you to create something in that pent-up & volatile moment-- but daily I find inspiration in the ordinary "detritus" of my life: something someone says, my own observations, the way something in the past resonates with the present moment. All of it informs my work & the discipline of seeing, listening, reading, making well & continuously.
Thanks for all of your packets, friends. I'm making my way through them, but the weekend, with 18 people in our house, is sure to interrupt!
Warmly,
Rick
Rick, it sounds like your house is filled with energy--I hope the weekend is a wonderful one.
For me inspiration is all around; it might be a thought triggered by reading, or by the turn of a leaf in the wind, or a word spoken by a friend, or an art exhibition. I know also that the ideas catalyzed are ephemeral, so I am never without a sketchbook to jot down the image or thought. Sometimes they simmer for a long time before emerging in art (or in life). Wishing each of you peace and joy, Susan
As a younger person I always thought inspiration was locked away in some exotic city. An intangible emotion vacant and fleeting, I try to gaze past the monotony of everyday life. There seems to be two parts of being an artist. One part is the numbers person who deals with the administrative part of being a human, the other is the one aflame. There are times where inspiration feels distant and separate. I can see why they locked-up Egon Scheile or why Van Gogh shot himself in the stomach in a cornfield. We all walk the path alone. For me inspiration comes out of that monotony and transcendence beyond the here and now. At times life is hard, there is loss and there is growth. Before any great body of work is made there is conflict. So inspiration isn’t locked in a vault at the Louvre or found in New York City, inspiration for me is being content with the mundane, letting moments find you and pass effervescently through you. The moments that truly inspire are found internally.
As a younger person I always thought inspiration was locked away in some exotic city. An intangible emotion vacant and fleeting, I try to gaze past the monotony of everyday life. There seems to be two parts of being an artist. One part is the numbers person who deals with the administrative part of being a human, the other is the one aflame. There are times where inspiration feels distant and separate. I can see why they locked-up Egon Scheile or why Van Gogh shot himself in the stomach in a cornfield. We all walk the path alone. For me inspiration comes out of that monotony and transcendence beyond the here and now. At times life is hard, there is loss and there is growth. Before any great body of work is made there is conflict. So inspiration isn’t locked in a vault at the Louvre or found in New York City, inspiration for me is being content with the mundane, letting moments find you and pass effervescently through you. The moments that truly inspire are found internally.
I'm of a similar mind of inspiration coming from the dailyness of things. And Susan, for starting this I thought of you:
There is an old Irish story of the hero Fionn Mac Cumhail. Fionn asks his followers, “What is the finest music in the world?” They suggest answers: the cuckoo calling from the hedge, the ring of a spear on a shield, the baying of a pack of hounds, the laughter of a gleeful girl. “All good music,” agrees Fionn. “But what is best?” they ask. Fionn answers: “The music of what happens.”
Music is a fundamental component of my writing. I often need to hear it before I can write and to "see" the image. I see what is in front of me--the trees in the window, the traffic, the cold March rain.
Today I met with a social work intern who was able to recall the "music" of an image of her own time in preschool where she was able to maneuver a situation where she felt little and powerless, just by her persistance and in the retelling she could see how this was replayed in her work with a preschool child who was, in today's terminology, resistant, but now she was reframing as tenacious.
I felt a echo in that music of spirit working in so many ways with and within us--healing ways, understanding ways, putting new spirit into old images.
Onward to Packet 2!
Best,
Deborah
MFA Blog
www.aworkinprocess.wordpress.com
In response to Susan’s question:
I am inspired by random happenings around me...trails in the grass behind the mower (lawn art), subtle reflections in a window, a rock lined with time, the random acts in color at my feet I intend to frame some day. However, I am most inspired by music. It makes me move and occupies my mind. I seek to find intrinsic images which my thoughts overpower at times. Music, the louder the better, drowns out my over-thinking and allows the intrinsic nature of my work to escape and evolve. Essentially, I try to let the music take over so I get out of my own way. It breaks down my self-imposed boudaries. I am also fascinated by Abstract Expressionist artists who inspire the manner in which I approach my own work.
Kathy
Hi, everyone:
I am enjoying your responses, and Deborah, thanks for the Irish story! I will remember that one. We are a fortunate group, in that we see inspiration everywhere. I wanted to add that you all, your answers, our times together at Goddard, inspire me as well. Sometimes I just picture us in our circle of conversation at the Cottage; that feeds my soul. Susan
Often times it seems huge cultural movements and the sway of isms move beyond the control of the individual. Lately I have been interested in how writers and visual artists have changed the course of history with their art. In some ways it is for the better and sometimes it is for the worst. Art is a major component of war. Sometimes a lever to uplift the morale of people and sometimes it is also a medium of oppression. I feel that as artists we overlook the impact of our own craft in relationship to public morale and its effect locally and internationally on change.
-I was wondering what artists or thinkers you think have had a great impact culturally, politically or socially on change? Perhaps you can underline a specific work that can attest to this concept. Is this a thematic device that influences the way you approach your work?
-I am really looking forward to everyone’s response. I am sure this will be a great dialog and an opportunity to share our feelings on this subject along with some insight to the artists and writers we may be unaware of.
Peter, thanks for this question, keeping the thread of creativity going.
I am very taken with Henri Cartier Bresson, the photographer who brought forth the concept of "the decisive moment". As artists we are witnesses, but not ones who report the facts. We are shaped by our personal histories and our cultures. Bresson likes the immediacy of the photographic image, the pattern and the line. There is much hidden in his black and white photgraphs. He travels countries and continents. His work is full of humanity and tenacity.
I also am reminded of the quote by Adrienne Rich about being concern about two things in life--the sources from which she draws her strength and with whom she will cast her lot. She is so moved by all that cannot be saved and she puts her lot with those who work to work for change.
Her words also are about decisive personal moments, but also about the course of society--like Bresson tenacious and direct.
Hope your G4P3 is going well. I am enjoyed solar printmaking a great deal!
Best,
Deborah
Hi, everyone:
Peter, what a great question! It set me thinking about the many artists who have impacted our world. To name just a few: Frida Kahlo, who gave expression to both her Mexican heritage and her personal story, thus inviting others to look at their cultural legacies and personal histories as sources for inspiration and change; Kathe Kollwitz, who made vividly present the horrors of hunger, poverty, war, and loss, and one of my current favorites, Anselm Kiefer, who for many years now has created works that examine German history and culture, the Holocaust, and the role of the artist as change agent.
Good thoughts to all for each day--and Packet 4!
Susan
In response to Peter’s great question:
As a painter I immediately thought of Jackson Pollock as one of the great artists that has impacted our society. The outward spontaneity of his action paintings demonstrated a refusal to traditional methods. It also left interpretation wide open. His paintings encouraged change in the way our culture perceives and responds to art that is still evident today. He also was an inspiration to other artist to follow that change.
The other artist I thought of was Robert Smithson. His Earth Art, like Pollock's, initiated a sense that art is boundless and limitless. The impact of both of these artists is evident in the continuation of their styles today.
Kathy
Hi everyone,
My question to post is:
Does art transcend reality?
I look forward to your responses.
Kathy
Thanks for your question, Kathy. It led me off on a trail that began with another question: what is reality? Certainly there is tangible reality; there are also facts. Beyond that, there is perception, emotion, dreams, spirit...and for me, those are all facets of reality along with many others. Story telling, for example, can be seen as a different sort of reality than the factual reporting of a journalist. So does art transcend reality, or does it reflect it in its myriad expressions and possibilities? Is art a different kind of story? Is a new reality created every time a new person views and responds to an art work? You definitely have given me a lot to think about, Kathy, and for that I am most grateful. Happy Packet 5 to everyone!
Warmest regards,
Susan
Kathy,
I think this is a multi-faceted question that can be looked at differently however you are holding this jewel of a question.
I sense that reality and art are fluid and respond to each other. People create art based on their realities and to influence those same realities. Art may be a way of helping to understand and negotiate the day to day experiences one has. Reality itself is shaped by art. Many cultures have elements and symbols that give a certain context. I am thinking about the artist Fernando Llort. He painted the front of the cathedral in San Salvador with a combination of traditional symbols, vibrant colors and artifacts of Salvadoran culture. In both cases reality and art are "working" together to create a vision that says look to the future we create as people.
I think that reality is art--in our reflection and interpretation. Our art is reality when it is embraced for the insight, truth and beauty that is communicated.
Both reality and art are very powerful individually as forces and when combined.
Thanks for your question. Much to think about as I am coming back from a 10 day service trip to El Salvador at the Center for Peace through the Arts in Suchitoto.
Best
Deborah
Hi everyone,
I'm supposed to bring this full circle with something to chew on at the end of the semester. . .
Just finishing packet 5 and my Practicum project had me thinking about a couple of things--One is what happens when we finish a project--a poem, a book, a painting, yes, a Practicum. Is there elation, then let down?
How do we cycle through the emotions of such engagement and then letting it all go--and then beginning again. How do we shift gears.
Any thoughts on this? Any piece of this?
Finally got electricity back in Jersey after thos late spring storms! So I'm back on the internet again.
Best,
Deborah
Great questions Deborah.
If I am truly satisfied with a finished piece I almost always experience an emotional let down. Sometimes it’s just a huge sigh of relief, other times it’s fear to my expectancy to do something as successful or better. This period seems to be an incubation time with new ideas accumulating in my mind about what I will start next. Then a sorting out of a million ideas into one I can visualize and proceed with. Lasting about 2-4 weeks.
One reason I like being in this program is this time is cut down sufficiently due to deadlines which projects me into action quicker. A kind of ‘just do it’ instead of incessant ‘thinking about it’ mentality.
I shift gears from the let down into action when the anxiety of not creating builds up. Then I often just go into the studio and start something, anything to get going again. I often start a piece over and over again. This helps me realize that what ever I begin is not etched in stone and most likely will be painted away next time. It’s really just the process of creative action that drives me and as long as I keep at the process I am confident the piece will evolve into something I can commit to.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at residency,
Kathy
Kathy,
Thanks for sharing, it is great to know that I am not alone in this process.
I sometimes think--I'll never write a good poem again!
And your suggestions for jumpstarting the process were helpful. It is true this Goddard process--keeps us jumping.
thanks for adding to the discussion.
Now back to this final last piece of the self-evaluation--then I can relax!
Best,
Deborah
Another great question! I think of my favorite Heraclitus quote: "All reality is sustained in existence by the dynamic tension of opposites." In a way, all of life--and death--is about engagement and release. From the smallest changes to the greatest, from the best gifts to to the most painful losses, this is the cycle we experience. So it seems to me no accident that the same wheel turns in our experience of art making.
I am really eager to see you all again at Goddard.
Warmest regards,
Susan
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