Let’s examine the thing for which artists live: inspiration. Where do we find it? Or does it find us? Who’s really in control of our art? To the contrary appearance of this blog, I have not been lacking for inspiration, it’s simply been directed elsewhere. As artists, we chase inspiration, that wayward vessel which allows us to express our chosen art form. Without it, it’s easy to feel lost, stuck, or blocked. So what do we do when it eludes us? Where do we look to find it when it doesn’t present itself to us?
Tonight, at a stirring visual art performance, I was struck not just by the beauty of the show, but also by the nature of inspiration itself. The show features music, dance, and computer-generated animation that marries the first two in a sensory feast for the right-brained. While watching the performance, I wondered to myself which of these was the primary form of inspiration? The music, which often features heavy bass and thrumming beats? The dancing, ranging between martial arts, rhythmic gymnastics, ballet, and even tap? Or was someone playing around with his computer and saw that he could create something beautiful? What brought these elements into confluence with one another? Which action precipitated which?
That last question then led me to think about the strange cause-and-effect nature of the actions we humans commit in the name of inspiration. Did a dancer hear the music and create the choreography from that? Or perhaps the dancer felt the movements and a musician composed a piece to compliment that? Or did a computer animator manage to find inspiration in the nearly limitless visual possibilities of his medium, and the rest was of his imagination? Esoteric, chicken-and-egg, stuff-and-nonsense musings from the loud clapper sitting behind the suburban soccer mom, of course. But the right brain knows intuitively that even to ponder these questions, regardless of an answer, invites beauty into our lives.
I have since learned that the troupe is actually a collaboration of very talented artists in different fields of the visual arts. This video does poor justice compared to seeing it live, but the beauty of this particular piece moved me to tears.
I wish you all inspiration, and may the page-turners be with you.
Thalia Huntley 