Latest posts by michael wilson (see all)
- JORDAN RIVER - February 5, 2019
- Inspired Art - August 2, 2018
- Waiting for Inspiration - July 31, 2018
- The Bridge between Painting and Photography - July 31, 2018
There are certainly times, especially when listening to inspiring music when I feel I am the envious artist. Music has so many fluid capabilities. It can begin with just the quietest, softest flute and then build little by little to a grand orchestral finale. Music is by its nature, transitional. There is movement, crescendos…the rise and fall creates unremitting interest and intrigue for the listener. The visual artist stands mute before this energetic display of expression. It seems to be almost constant in all veins of music and there is a tendency by composers to begin quietly and then to build in increments often relying on a consistent theme which supports the entire piece as it develops. I am speaking as a non-musician but this seems to be a very clear advantage in conveying mood and emotion, the concept is revealed in successive stages, draws us in and captivates us by its initial subtlety.
When I was nineteen I had the fortune of traveling Europe drawing and studying from many of the great masters. I drew perhaps six or seven careful drawings standing and sitting before the David. When I returned my mother selected three of them and had them framed by a rather prudish fellow who was in the business and belonged to our church. He was appalled especially at the one which concentrated on the pelvic region, the abdomen, thighs and penis. He almost declined the work. Sculptor seems to be even more static than painting and yet here was this fellow being quite emotionally offended by a simple drawing of a nude marble statue. This was quite a revelation to me at that young age. Since that time I have thought much about how the visual arts can in fact evoke an emotional force, a dynamic even when it lacks the inherent fluid qualities of music. My conclusion (though still in discovery) is that the playing field is in fact quite different. For example going to the extreme far right and discussing an even less fluid medium, photography I will mention the iconic image of the four men having lunch in New York. They are at an immense height sitting together on a steel I beam, resting and their lunch buckets have been neatly set out. It is the construction of a high-rise and far down below are the city streets. Though the image is fixed, definitely static somehow we are captivated by this scene. We keep looking at it trying to detect all the nuances of the subject. There seems to be a particular story evoked by each of the four men sitting. Why is that one man without a hat? How can they be so un-afraid sitting on that narrow beam? How much could they be paid for such dangerous work? Why didn’t they go down to the street level to have lunch and what unusual clothes they are wearing? So we must agree that though the image is fixed, the images that our minds conjure up are actually quite alive and fluid.
This small example then tells us something about just how we respond to a piece of framed art. Whatever emotion is evoked stems in great part from our own experience, our own longings, our own desires and indeed, our own fears and anxieties. The artist by ‘freezing’ an image focuses our attention. In our imagination there are certain events that preceded the event that we now see and then we imagine those which may follow. Though the image is static, thanks to our imagination and our own memories, our minds seem to experience a larger and more fluid whole. There is a term in music which describes the beginning, the first tempo that leads to the heart of the composition. With the visual arts we are not given such an opportunity…the entire concept is seen as an entirety. There is no graduation, no build-up, no crescendo. The entire painting is laid quite bare before us. The more the painter develops the painting, the more exposed he becomes until finally the painting is complete and all is forever frozen – a moment, an event, an experience, an emotion or in the case of an abstract Kandinsky, unrecognizable forms. These forms we are now discovering refer us to ancient motifs and these motifs refer us to very old myths that have played a very large part in shaping our culture. Visual attenuations therefore resonate with us because we respond to them internally. Abstract art that brings us out of naturalistic settings and in to unknown territories places these forms before us. Everyone responds differently because those visual contexts we are used to seeing, are not present.
We see then how the visual arts can have vitality then even without the aide of musical constructs. This very different playing field relies then on each individual memory, each unique set of experiences when viewing the so-called static image. This is what gives that iconic black and white photograph such interest – we naturally compare our experiences with those we are looking at. Also, those very ancient myths have been passed down through the centuries in my cases, by way of motifs. Internally we respond to these visual motifs because they represent the make-up of our consciousness. Art then, in its best manifestation is a truer reflection of our own consciousness through the eyes of the artist. So then, art or sculpture that is apparently static and fixed has the opportunity to express remarkably ancient symbols, myths and motifs when the artist is sensitive enough to recognize them. This is one reason why the brilliant psychologist, C.J. Jung frequently had his patients create and paint mandalas. These mandalas had the uncanny characteristic of repeating dynamic human themes. These proved quite helpful to the therapist in treating patient psychosis. In any event the composer and the musician plays on, the sculptor chisels away and the painter keeps spreading paint across canvas. It is only inevitable that the painter will feel envious of the musical arts. Perhaps we will grow to realize that in this age where we are accustomed to being overwhelmed with images and information, the artist is the one who helps us to focus. Images drawn from the deep well of our consciousness desire then to be revealed. It is these that will hopefully shed light on our circumstances, our civilization and those elements that are of value. We need not treat our trade disparagingly. We can refine the purpose within the medium. The great joy that we experience across the artistic stage comes from the exploration itself. Every small reflection and expression of what we feel inside tends to lead to joy. It is within the context of this inner jubilation that we come to know ourselves more fully. We become less confused. We become more aware. Personally abstract art provides an excellent medium to explore these often hidden and ancient motifs…freezing these on canvas in some ways represents for me lamp posts along the way of discovery, the evolution of our own society and perhaps even the fabric of our civilization. We may not understand them but they resonate for us. As artists then we can only play our small part in this evolution.