From the PanTimes talk 09 September 2020
The Creative Imagination: Bringing Us the Latest Ancient News
The Artist. Is everyone an artist? We like to say that everyone is good at something, and each person can express themselves creatively. Most performance, poetry, paintings, pots and puddings are, however, not very good. Obviously, we can all tell the difference between Michelangelo and the sketches of a child. Except proud parents, who get this confused.
What defines a piece of art? Is the painting produced at a weekly suburban social art class, or in the recreation room in rehab, art? Is it the financial worth, the originality, the skill of execution, the emotional effect, the function of the piece, the meaning for the one who created the object, the beauty – and who decides what is beautiful and what ugly? What is the line that separates art from craft, or is that a contrived division? These and other questions have been asked for millennia and there are many different answers.
Then we would also want to differentiate between the personality who makes art, the processes of creation, the finished piece, and the role and perception of the viewer or listener. All of these are chapters under the general heading of the artist, what they do, and their place in society.
What urges or drives or invites a person to create artifacts? Some artists want to earn a living, yet there are often better and more reliable jobs. Others have little need for the finances, or even acknowledgment, and yet they spend a great deal of their time and efforts making and doing what gives them both pleasure and causes them anguish. And there are others who seem to go on about their talent, and yet accomplish very little.
Our focus is on the psychological and archetypal perspectives of creativity. Jung says that creativity is a human instinct, except that not everyone has the compelling drive. He also says that, ‘if you are not a poet, create yourself.’ Hillman says that we shouldn’t limit our definition of a creative personality to those few who make great art. The topic is vast, and we can naturally only open a discussion on art and artists in the PanTimes format we have. Yet, if the words stimulate the imagination, then that itself might be a joyful act of creativity.
This PanTimes, we will discuss the creative instinct, explore the artistic personality, and play with a few images birthed of creative activity.