Artistic expression is an outpouring of the artist's unique thoughts and emotions about the world around him. Artistic creativity continues to have relevance in today's world of advancing science and technology. The dynamic interaction between the artist and the environment is an eternal and continuous process of development and growth. The products of creative thinking are not esoteric, symbolic objects fit only for the intellectual elite. They have a symbiotic relationship with the real world and are relevant to our everyday lives. Even the intricately designed microchip, symbolic of modern technology, can be considered a marvel of creativity.
Art is considered to be a mirror of reality. This doesn't mean that art is a photographically accurate depiction of reality. A mirror image, though it gives the illusion of reality, is not an exact replica of the reality it reflects. A mirror reflects only a portion of the real world, and is therefore selective. The mirror image is also a reversed image. Similarly, when the artist creates a work of art, whether it's a painting, a musical composition, a sculpture, or a short story, one of the artist's intentions is to present an aspect of reality as he perceives it. And creativity is also a product of the artist's environment and his relationship to it. Enduring works of art convey the intensity and universality of the human experience and the natural world as perceived by the artist. No matter how unique and original an artist may be, this relationship between creativity and the environment consciously or unconsciously exists. Thus Jane Austen wrote about the landed gentry in English villages. Dickens wrote about the urban poor and working classes of Victorian England. Their works, like those of most artists, are based upon their perception of reality.
The artist's uniqueness of perception and originality of expression are at the heart of all creative works of art. Some give so much importance to this uniqueness and originality, that they downplay the role of the reader or viewer. But is it a shortcoming of expression, if a story or a painting cannot be understood and appreciated by a reasonably educated and intelligent lay person? In many of our Indian languages, literature is called sahitya, which means to come close to. One of the purposes of literature is the literary artist's urge to convey his perceptions to others, to express a communion of feelings and insights. Does the work become a failure if only trained critics and students of literature can comprehend it? Is literature the product of the writer's egotistical desire to be consciously unique? Or does a truly unique literary work emerge as a product of the writer's intensity, which rises above his egotistical desires? Is art created when the artist "loses his identity in the whole", immerses himself into his memories and perceptions, and gains "a more intense consciousness of being?" (Lord Kenneth Clarke)
Enduring works of art are a result of the artist's unique way of perceiving the world and coming to terms with it. They are not conscious efforts to please others, to show intellectual pretensions. The intention is not merely to dazzle with a grand show of technical wizardry. Artistic inspiration cannot simply be dismissed as the artist's ego trip. During the creative process, patterns emerge in the way the artist thinks and reacts to the people and the situations around him. This, in turn, leads to a more keenly felt awareness. The creative process is a powerful way of sorting out feelings and emotions, of becoming more perceptive and receptive. Creative perception can hold the key to answering some of life's most complicated and trickiest questions. The artist's original creations are products of the limited, finite world to which the artist belongs. Their greatness and enduring value lies in the fact that they perceived and gave expression to human truths, which have a wider appeal even to this day.
The environment and cultural milieu also influences the artist's style of expression, or craft. For centuries, Western artists were brought up in the tradition of the picturesque. Only certain aesthetically outstanding combinations in nature were considered suitable material for art. But painters like Constable said, "I never saw an ugly thing in my life." The place of the straightforward depiction of the picturesque was taken by photography. The three great lovers of nature of the late 19 th Century, Monet, Cezanne, and Van Gogh, had to make a more radical transformation in their style of expression. They took to depicting the natural world as patches of light and colour, to give an impression of light sparkling on ripples in water, bouncing off leaves and flowers. They did this to give an impression of light, because light is all that we see. These artists reacted to, and were influenced by, their environment.
In today's fast paced world where space age technologies are changing by the nanosecond, is artistic expression becoming something quaintly obsolete, and fit only for the museums? Today, who has the time or inclination to delve into volumes of esoteric poetry or sit through a classical dance recital? Paintings and sculptures are often merely a part of the furniture and fittings, casually thrown in to suit the decor. Who is even bothered about any deeper significance hidden in them? As an ultimate indignity, commercially sponsored works of upcoming artists are sometimes overshadowed by the grossest advertisements. Today's wizard with words uses his talents in writing jingles for ads. So, the question arises, is artistic expression today being stifled and corrupted by crass commercial interests? Ah, for the glorious past, when the intellectual giant could sit in peace in his ivory tower far removed from the pedestrian demands of populism and commercialism, and carry on creating art for art's sake.
But then, think again. Are today's artists becoming slaves to popular tastes, creating for the sake of a market? Is it all about money, honey? Or, is the relationship between the artist and his audience still a dynamic and sustaining one? After all, didn't the immortal Shakespeare himself write his plays for enactment before appreciative contemporary audiences? Weren't the artistic masterpieces of titans like Michelangelo and Da Vinci commissioned by religious authorities to adorn places of worship? Our very own Tansen composed his masterpieces under royal patronage. Many of the great English novels of the Victorian Age, and contemporary novelists in Indian languages, have been published as serials in popular magazines.
Today, when we think of contemporary connoisseurs of art and culture, almost comic images of culture vultures flaunting their wealth and social status come to mind. We think of art as the preserve of an educated economic elite, something far removed from earthy everyday experience of the average human being. But artistic expression is dynamic, ever changing and evolving. Enduring artistic works never were, nor ever will be, dead, sterile things fit to be locked up in museums, or pored over only by myopic scholars. Artistic expression is alive and evolving along with the progress of human thought and civilization. Once upon a time, the literary novel evolved as just that, a novel mode of artistic expression unheard of before. The Impressionists and the Cubists challenged the prevailing trends in painting and evolved new idioms of expression.
In 1929, leading critic Gilbert Seldes took a radical approach in his treatise, "The Seven Lively Arts". Seldes held that America 's original contribution to artistic expression had come through forms of popular culture such as jazz, Hollywood movies, Broadway musicals, and even the comic strip. In the 75 years since Seldes' essay, these arts have gained some cultural respectability. But critics have usually averred that commercial and technological origins are doubtful and will not give rise to any works of lasting artistic value. Seldes argued that we reassess the aesthetic quality of such works because of their immense popularity. What has captured the hearts and imagination of the people must be having some elemental human truth in it.
Today, newer and more unusual art forms are emerging aided by the use of technological aids such the computer. Multimedia is one such means of expression and communication, and it has an integrated and intensely hybrid quality. It combines visual imagery with sounds, lights, and verbal expression. Artists and scientists experimenting with evolving forms of multimedia are bringing about a new medium with great popular appeal. Multimedia lays stress upon individual choice, creativity and innovation, and the free association of ideas. The viewer's experience is not that of the passive observer, but as someone involved in the multimedia experience. He is encouraged as an individual to explore, to participate, and even to compose his own unique experience within the framework of multimedia. Multimedia as it is evolving today, is the result of 150 years of the pathbreaking activities of artists, scientists, musicians, poets, and theorists. Their work covers a mind-blowing range of technological innovation, cultural thought, and artistic experimentation.
Way back in 1849 in his essay, "The Artwork of the Future", Richard Wagner propounded the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk or Total Artwork. Wagner sought the idealized fusion of all the arts through the synthesizing effect of musical drama. In music drama, music, song, dance, poetry, visual arts, and stagecraft combine to produce a unique effect. Wagner felt that the full gamut of human experience and emotions could only be expressed through this integration of mediums.
In the 20 th Century, many types of experimental art forms cropped up. Allan Caprow was keen to ease out the distinction between a works of art and the audience because every participant would be an integral part of the work. He coined the term "happening" for a performance style that pioneered deliberate, aesthetically planned group activity in a composed environment. "The line between art and life" said Kaprow, "Should be kept as fluid and perhaps indistinct as possible." As part of an art and technology movement launched in the 50s, paint bombs, chemical stinks, and noisemakers were used as a part of artistic displays.
Swedish engineer Billy Kluver advocated the equal and active participation of both artist and engineer in the creation of works of art. Kluver believed that the artist was a "visionary about life" and an active agent of social change. So, the artist could involve the engineer in a collaboration of meaningful cultural dialogue. Robert Rosenberg's famous credo, "to close the gap between art and life" was one of the aims of the artist. According to Kluver, this obliged the artist to incorporate technology as an element in an artistic work, since technology was an inseparable part of our lives.
What is more symbolic of today's technological breakthroughs, than the proliferation of computers in everyday life? As human beings interact with computers, it becomes a vehicle for extending memory, increasing knowledge, and enhancing the applications of human intelligence. Ultimately, the use of the computer enhances our consciousness and thus increases human creativity. The computer can even become a partner in the creative process, resulting in a partnership between man and machine that will set free incredible creative possibilities. Today, humans are creating virtual reality with the aid of computers. New creative tools are transforming the way we read and write. Ted Nelson coined the words "hypertext" and "hypermedia" to describe the new paradigms. He felt that everything is "deeply intertwingled", and that the computer would help bring out the interdependence of our creative ideas. It would make explicit the connections between art, music, literature, and science. Computers also allow for a two-way exchange between a work of art, and the audience. They allow us to express the human spirit through a novel medium.
Of course, the computer cannot think for itself. It is simply a new tool in the hands of the artist, offering new resources for artistic expression. It also offers new opportunities for reaching the public, the audience of the works of art. The computer can now help the artist in adequately expressing the true nature of the human spirit. Modern technology can help produce works of art deeply embedded in our everyday lives. These are democratic arts appealing to average people today. They capture the vital immediacy of our everyday experience. Technology can aid today's artist in expressing his unique perceptions of the world around him. It helps in expressing the basic human needs and desires, which is the essence of art. And the best part is, these new forms of expression are still open to experimentation and discovery. In the words of Gilbert Seldes, they are "lively arts".
October 13, 2005