Song of the Week:
Gem by Romeo + Juliet
Left Brain
Throughout my life, I have always been the creative one in my family. I grew up loving doing DIYs, painting, dabbling in drawing. You know, every family has that one artsy soul that they turn to for creativity; that was me. It is what drove me to pursue the arts in college. But lately, Iâve hit a stump. I havenât been creating anything special – nada, nothing, zip. And let me tell you, itâs left me feeling very bored in life, borderline very unfulfilling.
Now, you might be thinking, âBut wait, youâve got this blog, you design the website, plan stories and tweets, and curate Pinterest boards. Isnât that making stuff?â Sure, technically, but itâs just not the same as getting your own hands caked with paint and glue or waiting for your projects to dry. Let me show you why.
Letâs Talk Morphology
To understand why creating with your hands is so satisfying, we have to go back in time and dive into a little bit of word history. Originally the English word âartâ was derived from the Latin term âarsâ which essentially meant products created by human skill or craftsmanship. Think of ceramics, wood carving, cave paintings etc. By the 18th century things took a turn.
Why? Well because the introduction of aesthetics came and rocked the art world. If you know your history, this was the era of the Enlightenment England and Germanyâ and subsequently the subject of aesthetics was named and developed. The âaestheticsâ came to be regarded as a distinctive kind of experience. Suddenly, it wasnâtâ just about what you made, but how it made you feel and the environment it created. Due to this sudden notice in the area, the word âartâ transformed into a new meaning âdes beaux artsâ. Which now derives from the French term beautiful art.
You may be thinking, âOkaaaaayâŚ. they just added the word beautiful to the word art, why is that so significant?â Let me tell you why. The word beautiful isnât just a word, as we all know it is an adjective. A very powerful adjective and the literal definition of beautiful is âpleasing the senses or mind aesthetically or of a very high standard; excellent,â (Dictionary). This forever changed the art scene, now only encompassing art only being beautiful pieces. Aesthetic art is now a tool to separate beautiful looking art and art that is not. The debate about what art is can no longer be answered because the question shifts to what is aesthetically pleasing. Fast forward to today, and aesthetics still reign supreme, just take a look at social media. Is not a new concept to use aesthetics to your benefit, it was actually bound to happen anyways. And while this shift happened centuries ago, its influence is still felt today.
Childâs Play
Ever wondered why some folks are just naturally drawn to creating art? Well, interestingly enough back in my undergraduate I read The Core of Art Making Special by Ellen Dissanayake. This piece was one of my all-time favorites because it is derived from an anthropological view of how humans have evolved play and rituals into art that symbolizes making special. If you were like âWtf does that even mean?â Of course I can break it down for you.
In her studies, Ellen Dissanayake boldly states that practicing art has always been a human behavior tendency. Every human has this tendency deeply ingrained in our DNA through centuries and centuries, and I mean CENTURIES of play and rituals. For example, if you own any cats, you know that they love to play fight. Benji loves to do her bunny kicks and do surprise attacks or do her defense stance. This is her play, but she was never taught to do these things. Kids also were never taught but they play having superpowers or playing family. There are countless amounts of evidence to support hominids and animals participating in play. Which is fascinating to digest because these activities are never critical for survival. Yet, playing can be seen in every part of the world and in every animal.
Ellen Dissanayake clarifies that even though play is purposeless to survive, the main reason that we all do them is out of pure enjoyment. But play comes with ârulesâ or criteria that need to be met that allow the engagement like special clothing or special chants/ sounds etc.
Like in Benjiâs case, she usually meows to indicate she wants to play. Or children, they need toys or a park to start playing pretend. The same thing can be said about art, there are special places to see art, a museum. There are special clothing needed, a play or movie the list can go on. In any art form there are rules or special circumstances that create the art piece, almost like a requirement in order to get it right. Most of these requirements are not done for the art sake, it is done to add the illusion of realness; just like in play. They set the tone, the mood, the idea to tell our brains itâs time to play/enjoy.
This ability to escape reality when playing is very different because we can imagine a different reality. Our brains can escape to a place as Ellen Dissanayake describes âDisinterested Contemplationâ (The Core of Art: Making Special, 17). This phenomenon can best be explained when you’re watching a scary movie, you sit and just watch. Your brain knows it is an alternate reality; there is no need to call the cops or jump into action. And this is done because of all the rules, or the embellishments needed to create fantasy. And that is what art does too!
Dive into Fantasy Land
Ellen Dissanayake takes us on a journey that connects art and rituals. She quotes Freudâs insights highlighting the benefits of play and art being therapeutic because they allow for fantasy to happen. Think about it: how many songs do we know about a breakup or portraits of their lovers. But she questions how much fantasy did hominid ancestors practice anyways? (The Core of Art: Making Special, 18).
Ellen Dissanayake hits gold with this next part as she dives into rituals, exploring supernatural versus natural, the extra-ordinary versus ordinary. Across cultures, rituals serve as a conduit for expressing our deepest emotions and the meanings of Life. In many ancient societies, art was intimately tied to religious practices, amplifying the spiritual significance of these rituals. This art would be crafted by hand, to express what outcome was most wanted, like putting it out in the universe. Each ritual was meticulously orchestrated, year after year, with the same fervor and purpose.
Rituals and art share a common purpose: to mold the feelings of their audience. They allow emotions to be publicly expressed as if on display to showcase the deep devotion. âThe mental and emotional complexity this endowment permitted led to a wider range of thought and feelingsâŚHumans must have become has remarked with the regard to the biological origins of religion, âpainfully aware of the past and future “, (The Core of Art: Making Special, 24). Humans having the ability to imagine, remember and being painfully aware of ourselves conditions us to seek comfort, and that is usually through what we know as religion.
Diamond in the Rough
As Ellen Dissanayake eloquently puts it, âI continually returned to the quality in the arts of all times and places of being extra-ordinary, outside the daily routine and not strictly utilitarian- even when considering ânecessaryâ to their practitioner. That was where evolutionary explanations always broke down because something ânonutilitarianâ should not have been selected for. Yet, nonetheless it existed.â (The Core of Art: Making Special, 26). Making special is finely woven into our DNA, a primal instinct to express ourselves in extra-ordinary way. Itâs a beautiful yet scarily fascinating to learn about being creative in the art world. The complexity of the human brain in all its glory serves as a reminder to break free of modern-day expectations.
I feel as though many creators fall into this category: creating pieces exactly how we think others will perceive it rather than just to create art for the sake. Maybe not, maybe it is just me. I find myself in these difficult ruts because I donât know what to make hell, what I even like. I truly believe it is the Western culture view- âdes beaux artsâ. Stuffing our faces for many years, that in result turns styles to only consist of aesthetic pieces. I like it all aesthetics because they are all pleasing to look at! The only way to differentiate is by my moods- I can be a girly pink, or cowboy Yee-haw or grungy.
This internal struggle is further compounded by the pressure to create content that meets certain aesthetic standards. By liking it all I am like juggling multiple personas while walking a tightrope in front of an audience. The constant battle between authenticity and external perception leaves my head hurting.
But enough of the existential crisis- letâs get to the song of the week. This week fits right on theme, a song that is quirky, and I mean this is a good way, breaks the bounds of the norm. Plus, perfectly encapsulates the continuous cycle of identity. Never sticking to one answer because of the nature of self-discovery. As the song aptly puts it, âreally I am good on my own,â reminding us that no matter who doesnât like it, there is always one person who will. You and that is good enough.
Thank you for joining me on this journey at The Unfinished Times! Don’t forget to follow me for more insightful content, give a shout-out to spread the word, and consider signing up for our Co-Collective to be part of our vibrant community. And if you missed any posts from previous weeks, take a moment to catch up! Let’s continue exploring, sharing, and growing together! See you in the next post~XOXO
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