Response to Body Knowledge/Body Prejudice--

This article questioned a lot of methods of thinking about the creative process that I have been wondering about recently. The image of the ladder was particularly meaningful because it reminded me of an essay I read by Richard Hugo called “The Triggering Town.” The audience for Hugo’s essay is different because it is geared towards poets; however, I find many similarities between the two. Both speak of the importance of starting with what you know. With Hugo, he speaks of your hometown and in this article, a specific event from childhood. Right now, what I am interested in is how to take what you know intimately from an authentic corporeal experience and turn this experience into an expression that can be universally felt. The emotional investment I have with this personal experience is what I hope will carry me through the creative process because I know once I get stuck I can always go back to what I know.

Other aspects of this article that piqued my interest were body habits. This summer I took a few Feldenkrais classes and what is so powerful about this practice is its ability to help the body re-learn and let go of harmful movement patterns. When I am working in the studio and feel as though I am doing just the same old thing over and over again that’s when I remember to start noticing my movement habits such as why do I always roll over to my right or why do I always tend to do this jump? Once this awareness comes I can begin to move beyond those nerve pathways to discover new ones. The same goes for writing and thinking. Simply through noticing my brain patterns can I begin to move away from them. In Nature and Creativity, we discussed the Automatic Nervous System and how by accessing our ‘gut,’ energy is able to flow more freely throughout the body.

My Lighting Moment for the Week 9/9

As I walking down to the studios Tuesday morning, I saw the sun peek through the trees and hit the smoke coming from the giant grate. As soon as the light hit the smoke, it became hazy and diffused. It was so beautiful. It did not make an extraordinary pattern on the ground; simply that of the sunlight falling in patches where the tree wasn't blocking it. Of course that in itself might be an interesting floor pattern. However, I was more concerned with the affect of the smoke in combination with the light. If you walked out of the direct pathway of the sunlight you could see the high-lighted smoke.

I am not sure how you might recreate the light-smoke effect without the smoke. I suppose one could use a soft light to create the morning glow effect with a gobo (aka template) in a blotchy leaf pattern, but that wouldn't necessarily give the hazy glow effect. In order to make smoke I suppose I would need to use a fog machine put on a light setting.

Dewey Response

I found Dewey’s essay a cautionary look at the vagaries of philosophical theory. Broad sweeping language such as order, rhythm and balance held no significance due to their lack of specificity in definition and in example. True, there were moments of clarity through his references to the fine art of Renoir and Matisse, the literature of Austen and Shakespeare, and some dustings of musical knowledge; however, as a musician and someone interested in literature, his examples seemed too convenient and again, broad.

Also, according to whose value-systems of order, rhythm, and balance are we going by? From what I can infer from his examples of Greek architecture it would be the Western form of Art--a standard I myself conform to unfortunately, but one that I am wary of due to its hierarchical prejudices.

What I suppose Dewey is speaking of is a sort of universal language that can be achieved in a work of art so that the viewer or audience member is allowed to intuit for themselves a meaning significant to them. And I do agree that there has to be some degree of layering and variation so that the artist’s reason for making their creation does not come off too bluntly.

I think what also might be missing is the knowledge that the overall trajectory of Dewey’s work is showing the link between art and everyday experience as being inextricably bound. If you look at Dewey’s successor, Allan Kaprow and his book The Blurring of Art and Everday Life, because Kaprow is an artist himself, his message, in my opinion, comes off more cleanly.

The Organization of Energies

I am not really sure I understand everything that is going on in this reading. The main messages I took from it was: all works of art contain at least one rhythm, which when properly placed, forms organized energy. This organized energy gives the work life in an esthetically pleasing and satisfying manner. Most works of art have more than one rhythm, and these rhythms have variation in them. Although I am sure that I missed out on some of the author’s finer points I did enjoy some of his/her ideas on rhythm.

One thing I was a little lost about was the author’s idea of perception of artwork. He (or she) refers to needing all of the senses for perception to occur. Does he mean that a work of art engages all of our senses so that we might perceive the organized energies within the work? If so, then how would it engage us in the first place? I realize that perception is very important when viewing art, however I don’t really see where this author is going/went with his idea of perception in relation to the organized energies. Also, I don’t wholly agree with the statement that something cannot be perceived without all of the senses.

Another thing I pondered was the author’s statement, “There are works of art that merely excite, in which activity is aroused without the composure of satisfaction, without fulfillment of within the terms of the medium. Energy is left without organization.” What if you would like to leave the audience with a question instead of an answer or resolution? Or give them something stirring yet unresolved so they’re left to their imagination? Would this still be a form of organized energies or would it be considered ‘without fulfillment of within the terms of the medium?’ Any thoughts?