{"id":23567,"date":"2015-04-26T15:59:51","date_gmt":"2015-04-26T22:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=23567"},"modified":"2015-04-26T15:59:51","modified_gmt":"2015-04-26T22:59:51","slug":"how-to-have-a-creative-and-flexible-mind-as-an-artist-and-photographer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/26\/how-to-have-a-creative-and-flexible-mind-as-an-artist-and-photographer\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Have a Creative and Flexible Mind as an Artist and Photographer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Toronto,
Toronto, 2015<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Continuing my series on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Akademie x Lessons in Art and Life<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, I thoroughly enjoyed an essay titled: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Me and Marcuse\u00e2\u20ac\u009d by Michelle Grabner<\/a>. She exposed me to a lot of new ideas that I want to explore below on the following topics: what art is for, the importance of filtering images, undoing and re-doing your world-constructs, and the importance of learning:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. What is art for?<\/h2>\n

One of the first ideas that Michelle Grabner explores is the idea of Herbert Marcuse, in his work: \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAesthetic Dimension<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 (free pdf here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

This is how Marcuse describes art:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It seems that \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcart as art\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 expresses a truth, an experience, a necessity<\/strong> which although not in the domain of radical praxis [process], are nevertheless essential components of revolution.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I might be misconstruing what Marcuse is trying to say, but this is what I take away from his quote on art: that as artists and photographers, we need<\/em> to express the truth through the experiences we see in life.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to making images, we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take photos in the streets simply because it is fun or enjoyable. It goes deeper than that. We need<\/em> to make these images. It is something that exists deep in our psyche and in our bones.<\/p>\n

If you have ever seen a great potential photo opportunity (and missed it), you might feel like shit. You literally feel ill. You go to sleep at night, deeply regretting having not<\/em> taken that photograph.<\/p>\n

But then again the opposite is true: when you see something absolutely amazing and happen to make a photograph of it well, you feel alive. You feel that you were able to communicate your experience of that event in an image that shows some deeper \u00e2\u20ac\u0153truth\u00e2\u20ac\u009d about how you see reality.<\/p>\n

One question that photographers rarely ask themselves is: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why do I make photographs?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Artists also rarely ask themselves why they create art.<\/p>\n

So consider why<\/em> you create art.<\/p>\n

I think for me personally as a street photographer, I see the world in a unique way in which I want to communicate with the rest of the world. The way I see the world is very subjective\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is colored through my personal lens (which has been deeply influenced by my life experiences, education, and influences).<\/p>\n

I also feel a need<\/em> to make these images and share them with the rest of the world. If I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make these images and share them, it is almost like having photographic constipation<\/strong>. I get blocked up, feel in pain, and just need something to release (sorry for the graphic analogy, but you get my gist).<\/p>\n

The best way to relieve photographic and artistic constipation? Stay well nourished (look at a lot of great art work), and have regular bowel movements (create art on a regular basis). That means try to photograph, edit, and share your images on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

2. Filter down the images you look at<\/h2>\n

Philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch wrote these words in the late 1960\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Each human being swims within a sea of faint suggestive imagery. It is a web of pressures, currents and suggestions<\/strong>, something often so much less definite than pictures, which ties our fugitive present to our past and future.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What Murdoch is talking about can refer to today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hyper-connected world. We constantly swim in a sea of images. Except in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world, the images aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t \u00e2\u20ac\u0153faint\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153suggestive.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d They are aggressive, in your face, and constantly bombarding you.<\/p>\n

Think about advertising. We have pop-up ads all over the internet, banner ads vying for your attention, blogs constantly publishing content that are irresistible not<\/em> to click, and millions of photographs being published to Instagram, Facebook, and social media.<\/p>\n

Today we are drowning in a sea of imagery<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So what is the solution?<\/p>\n

Michelle Grabner suggests an idea:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When we are faced with the blurry, the unclear and the ill-defined, we have to look carefully and with dedication so that we can assemble pictures and build a knowledge base. When things are fuzzy we have to work to clarify.<\/strong> That work is important and must be practiced or we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll find ourselves merely surfing that \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcsea\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, pushed along by a tide of information and jpegs.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The way I take Michelle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s advice is this: work hard to filter the information and imagery you take in<\/strong>. Be very selective about the images you look at on a daily basis. On social media, only follow those whose work and imagery really inspire you. Try to unsubscribe from as many annoying notifications as possible. Un-follow those who you find overly spammy, unsubscribe from news that just promotes terror and fear, and seek imagery that is hopeful and inspiring.<\/p>\n

Michelle talks about putting together a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153knowledge base\u00e2\u20ac\u009d of imagery. For me, my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153knowledge base\u00e2\u20ac\u009d consists of the work of my close friends and colleagues, as well as the work of the masters of photography (especially Magnum photographers).<\/p>\n

So what type of imagery can you unsubscribe from today? I highly recommend installing ad blockers (the web looks a lot prettier and less spammy), and perhaps even unfollowing those whose work you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find absolutely essential to you.<\/p>\n

I think in art, what you decide not<\/em> to look at is more important than what kind of art and imagery you decide to look at.<\/p>\n

Whether we like it or not, we are constantly influenced by the images we see on a daily basis. Therefore by controlling the firehose of images we are subjected to everyday, we need to control the valve of which images we let into our everyday lives.<\/p>\n

Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius once wrote that our mind is colored by our thoughts. Similarly, our art and photography is colored by what types of images we see on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

3. Regularly undo and re-do your world constructs<\/h2>\n

I think as artists we should be like water. Open to change of direction, constantly flowing, and adaptable.<\/p>\n

Michelle Grabner shares advice in terms of how to acquire knowledge (and the importance of having a flexible mind):<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You have to be prepared to regularly undo and redo your world-constructs and accommodate change as readily as you develop and share narrative<\/strong>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How can we keep our minds open-ended to art? Michelle shares three ideas: time, curiosity, and trust<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Art as a means of acquiring knowledge is what compels my work. I have spent my life looking around<\/em> art, identifying and building contexts. It takes time, curiosity, and trust<\/strong> in your observations to see the center and the periphery all at once.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n