But I was taught a few years ago that Anger is a very strong energy and if respected it fuels the burner of the creative process. I usually fail gloriously. But I do notice that after emotions well i am quite productive at some aspect of my process. Yesterday I stretched a large canvas and gesseod it in 30 minutes flat. Wham Bam thank You Ma'am.
But Mostly I'm curious how you feel a strong emotion like anger or others have propelled your work or how you integrate/ abstain the reality of your emotions in your process. If at all?
Xtina
Ps. Charlie Alpha Tango- Our Shared Yoga moves was way fun last night... Thanks
i've always removed my anger from my work, but i think maybe it needs to be allowed to live in it. i'm not sure about this. maybe i need to take things emotionally FARTHER before restraint is used. 'take it to the limit' if you will, and then pull back.
ReplyDeletebut i also like modesty.
this is an interesting topic, and one that i feel is very pertinent to my current predicament, perhaps related to energy/catharthis/abstract expressionism if i may group such terms. I think before, I allowed myself to get more angry, or was more romantic, and that anger was in an absolute sense a higher state of energy, in other words, it was a catalyst for my art or was something that i had to auger, to sublimate in order to achieve the condensation or the residue of some emotion. restraint through the very act of painting, through the delivery of the paint onto the canvas, and the nuances/particularities of that process became the meaning or the quality of my art. Now, it seems that my trajectory along that sort of romantic ideology or maybe simply my Modernist approach, well.. I'm at a point where I see it in a certain light as reprehensible, or something that others would laugh at for taking so seriously, and in its place i suppose would be a more positivist approach. that is, to be positive without being negative, to have high energy without needing the anger. However, this kind of behavior, while i might admire it in others, seems contrary to my nature, which is sarcastic, but which could be received as abrasive or brash. Abandoning that type of personality (the type that gets angry) however has left me without much vigor and has rendered me apathetic and virtually mute. so maybe, from my perspective, a certain amount of anger is necessary for the sake of action. inertia.
ReplyDelete-JC
wow
ReplyDeleteI like the dialogue thats happening. Thanks for sharing your connection to anger and your practice. I really enjoy how JC came back to anger as inertia.
Im still often embarrassed by my anger or other bubbling of emotions... unless Im able to intellectualize it.
Im also curious about madness and brilliance... Is there still a perceived connection in a postmodern artist? Ive been reading... Touched with Fire by Kay Jamison. Jamison.. a prof. of psychiatry investigates manic-depressive illness and the artistic temperament overlap. An interesting read in that it brings a connection to creativity and those who feel "too much".
the other night i got a fortune cookie that said:
ReplyDelete"fortune cookie says: your sensitivity is an asset"
i think that anger is an expression of sensitivity, like crying or laughing. personally, i cry faster than i loose my temper and then get frustrated that i don't get that firey energy in time to respond in the moment. anger usually hits me much later, it takes a long time to build. i don't know how to release it in art, i use exercise to deal with my frustrations. but i think it's so important to allow emotions and to experience them fully, even if they are painful. then they are allowed to come and go and don't get stuck in the body or mind somewhere.
i think the main problem with anger is that it causes people to hurt others and they usually regret it afterwards. i know a few people who have serious problems with their anger and end up hurting a lot of people, which in turn hurts them in new ways.
i like what xtina asked about madness and brilliance. i always think of the "fool" characters in shakespeare's plays. they are usually just outside the action and offer the wisest lines even though they are taken for idiots by most of the other characters.
my final thought has to do with our being embarrassed/ashamed/guilty of feeling anger or other negative emotions. i can see why and how society has shaped us to feel this way but for the individual i don't think it's healthy to put this spin on emotions. it's part of being human and we all feel these things.