WRITING

Why Make Art?

Markus Alexander

Why give music form? Why paint, sing...dance? Why create at all? Why develop our creative abilities? Why express?

Could it be that as human beings, we delight in our capacity to give the formless form? That what we hear can be heard? What we see can be seen? What we feel as a tiny movement within can be embodied in a dance?

The evolution of an inner impulse into full expression is profoundly personal. This profoundly personal experience also has a quality that can be described as universal. An intimate connection to and awareness of this flow of expression engenders a wide range of human emotions including joy, grief, delight, ecstasy and relief.

If we take on this role as giver of form to what was formless, we might be called an artist. It is not about being an artist, however. It is more like being a humble servant. In the quiet of the birthing-place of a new form, vast amounts of energy are released. The artist serves this release.

As an integral part of the creative act, this infusion of energy into our physical, mental, emotional and etheric bodies changes them, enlivens them. This is reason enough to ascribe to the philosophy, truth is beauty and beauty, truth. To experience the beauty of expression moving through us and changing us for the better implies a movement not only toward truth but also a movement in and as truth.

A continuous enjoyment of the creative process over an extended period of time can foster an increased congruence as well as a deepened inner serenity.

It can be said that human frustration and anxiety are a direct result of unexpressed beauty, the beauty that can lead to the seeing of one's truth. There is an ongoing crisis in our world that is effected by unexpressed beauty and unseen truths. We are able to respond to this crisis. We can take part in the re-awakening of the inherent value in art as beauty, as a creative act…not only as audience but as an active creator. Art can re-infuse us with a greater relationship to meaning.

To search for meaning is absurd. To give form to the profound meaning that is living inside us only waiting to be us is more natural. We can take responsibility for playing a part in the renaissance of the arts as a communication tool for personal development and inter-personal healing.

Art-making fosters an increase in flow and release. A significant decrease in the frustration level of people is possible in this characteristically anxious time. Art ... to foster and nurture the flow of what is within.

Art-making such as poetry, painting, playwrighting, music and dance can introduce a distinct strand in the fabric of everyday life that is both luminescent and strong, lighting our lives from the inside out, strengthening each step with meaning and ultimately with purpose.

Which leads to a poem... .

The Muse
She sits alone
On a small, cold stone.
Soon
It cracks
From the warmth.
In the cracking,
Voices
And more voices. Until
She has no choice but
To stand
And to walk.
Leaving the empty, cracked stone
Behind her.

Which points to an image... .

I hear Satie. A graceful young woman walks off the stage. Then, a great burst of light before, blackout. Applause. Lights up. She re-enters and bows. She leaves. Then we leave. All is silent and empty. Soon, the room is alive with anticipation. The walls and seats vibrate from the hum of what has just occurred and the excitement about knowing what is to come.

The hall is locked. I feel the key in my pocket as I walk lightly and quickly home.