Grey’s article “Art as a Spiritual Practice” within The Mission of Art really got me thinking about how spiritual art can be. He starts the article with a strong question: “What is the difference between merely looking at a thing and actually seeing it?” (Grey 71). A very profound question to start off the rest of the reading. Art is something that you have to absorb. You have to spend time thinking about what it means. You go through your day-to-day lives looking at things but rarely do you spend enough time actually considering it, thinking about it, and processing it completely. As Ernest Watson said “There is a vast difference between looking and seeing – a difference which is fundamental to the artist’s experience“ (Grey 72). Everyday you walk around thinking about yourself. There is no time to muse on other things or process them. It takes real art to make you stop and think. This act makes us deeply see, as Grey says: “In the act of deeply seeing we transcend the egoic boundaries between the self and the otherness of the world” (Grey 72). Art makes you think and contemplate on life and Grey talks about how the artist has to put as much spirit into it as the consumer takes out of it. Grey talks about the different levels an artist must go through in order to complete a piece of art. Grey discusses the trials of inspiration, seeing art, legitimacy, and authenticity that all artists must go through.
What really stuck out to me was the section on inspiration because inspiration is one of the hardest things to achieve but when it does it can be angelic. As Grey says: “Inspiration is beyond reason. Inspiration is like an unseen lover, a muse, an angel or demon, or perhaps an entire committee of discarnate entities who creep up to your imagination and give it the most sumptuous gifts” (Grey 82). For me inspiration hits me in the most inopportune places. I’ll get an idea in the shower or going for a run. Times I can’t really utilize the ideas I come up with but you still get such a good feeling. Grey is saying that inspiration is this great thought that you can admire with your entire being. “Inspiration means access to spirit” (Grey 82). Until Grey said that I never thought of inspiration and spirit being so close. When I think of spirit I think more of meditative practices. A spiritual person can cut through all the clutter of their usual egotistical selves and I feel like that is when you can become the most inspired and creative. The trick is being able to access your spirit and get inspired. Grey offered help in this aspect as well by sharing the way he accesses his spirit: “Drawing is a way to enter into the spiritual practice of art and seeing” (Grey 86). So for Grey, drawing helps him contemplate and really absorb what is happening around him. I do yet have that practice that lets me access my spirit but I hope to one day figure it out as he said: “Artists must be able to absorb the depths of meaning contained within a work of art” (page 86), and as we he said earlier it is impossible to deeply see and quiet their egotistical monologue within themselves. Once they do that they can find true art.
Grey, A. (2001). Art as Spiritual Practice. The Mission of Art (1st ed., pp. 205-233). Boston & London: Shambhala.
This was a very well written post! After reading your response you had me thinking about inspiration and how I get inspired. Inspiration really does come from within. It takes getting to know your inner self and spirit to be able to hone in on your capabilities. I love when Grey states, “to in-spire is to be in-spirit” (82). He talks about how inspiration brings about spirit and spirit brings vision to an artist. Since I am not pursuing a career in art, my inspiration is more focused on a business sense. I get inspiration for business proposals and projects by bouncing ideas off others and starting to write out a map of my plan. This helps me get inspired when I see it starting to come together on paper and get others behind me to back me up. One question I did have from the reading this week, was when Grey talked about this “deep art” where the soul and heart are revealed. He states, “third, and only in the deepest art, a condition of the soul is reveled, one’s heart is opened and spiritual insight is transmitted to the eye of contemplation” (82). My question is does everyone experience this sense of being able to connect deeply with art or do only a select few people?
Grey’s conversations about the importance and difficulty of finding inspiration along the creative process was interesting. You mentioned that grey would draw in order to find inspirations. This was also a line that struck me. Here, Grey points out that inspiration comes from engagement. He implies that inspiration occurs when you actively engage in experiencing and seeing the world. The drawing was a way for him to see inside his visions more deeply. His experience smoking DMT was also an example of how he became inspired through his sight. What I find interesting is that he actively pursues sight. He isn’t just waiting for a great idea to come to him. He is intellectually and emotionally pursuing knowledge and inspiration.
Great post, I feel like we reacted the same way after reading this article especially about the point that Gray made about how inspiration and spirit are intertwined. Just like you, I never had thought prior to reading this article how closely related someone’s spirit is to their inspiration. Then I started to realize how much sense this makes, if you think about it its incredibly hard to get inspired by anything when your spirit is broken and you are feeling down. Then I started to think what else might drive our inspiration, such as motives. Any thoughts on what else might be a key contributor to where we get our inspiration?