I enjoyed the reading this week, because I tend to see myself as a spiritual person, but not necessarily religious. I believe in a higher power, but do not belong to any specific organized religion. I found the beginning of the reading, where the author, Grey, described a close encounter with the death of his loved ones to be very emotionally compelling, as I’m sure many of us have great fears of something similar happening. The author then draws us into the spiritual aspect of art by first saying that there are
“three eyes of knowing: the eye of flesh sees the ‘outer’ realm of material objects; the eye of reason sees symbolically, drawing distinctions and making conceptual relationships; and the mystic eye of contemplation sees the luminous transcendental realms. Artists need to be able to see on each level in order to bring technical beauty, archetypal beauty, and spiritual beauty to their work,” (Grey, 73)
I had never thought about art in this way before, something that requires that an artist look and see through many different angles. I have believed that artistic individuals tend to see aesthetically pleasing features more easily than others or that they are able to draw these features out of seemingly uninteresting situations. I have wished that I had this ability, but perhaps now I could if I were to try to look at the world through new eyes.
Grey then made another point that I found very interesting. He stated that looking at and observing a work of art are different from seeing deeply and actually understanding that work of art. He explains,
“In order to experience art fully viewers must go through a mini ego death by placing themselves in the inspired mind of the artists, who themselves are out of their minds and only acting as channels of creative spirit…To understand is to see through the rough image made by the artist’s hand and recognize the transcendental archetype that is the empowering source behind the image,” (Grey, 74).
I understand the author’s point in this instance, for I always try to place myself in an artist’s shoes when I am looking at a work of art. I even do this when I am listening to music. I always listen to the words and try to understand what the artist’s original meaning was. Songs always become more meaningful to me in the end when I feel that I can understand what the artist hoped to convey. I feel that I could become even better at doing this, however, because many times when I feel that I understand the author’s message, I try to relate it to my life and do not fully remove myself from my ego or go through the full “mini ego death” as described by Grey.
Another section of this reading that I found to be incredibly interesting was when the author described a dream he had where he was in a hallucinogenic state. Later, the author took the drug DMT and found himself in this exact same state that he was in in his dream. These two experiences lead the author to decide to paint the experience and to later display it for the public. Grey states,
“Art is the transmission of states of being. Viewers appreciate art because they resonate with those states of being. No matter what state of being is expressed in a work of art, universal creative spirit is the prime mover behind all art media,” (Grey, 79).
I found the description of this experience to be extremely interesting. My initial thought that the author must have been seeing through his mystic eye of contemplation during this time. In addition, I thought that this must have been the description of the artist’s spiritual experience that is brought into his art. I found this very interesting because I didn’t picture using a drug as a spiritual experience, but perhaps this is because I have never used drugs and cannot relate. Finally, when Grey stated that “viewers appreciate art because they resonate with those states of being,” my question was answered. I fully felt I did not fully appreciate Grey’s painting simply because I couldn’t relate to it. This does not mean that I don’t appreciate the artistic technique, hard work, and emotional labor put into this work of art, however, I feel that I cannot see what it truly means. Finally, this statement answered an assertion that I made previously in this response. I stated that I felt that I could become better at looking at experiencing the “ego death” and looking at art removed of my personal biases. But I now think that this may not be what the author intended to mean. Perhaps he meant that people must first look at art in a state where they are removed from personal biases in order to understand the artist’s intention, but then they must resonate with the art to fully appreciate it.
Grey, A. (2001). Art as Spiritual Practice. The Mission of Art (1st ed., pp. 205-233). Boston & London: Shambhala.
Hi there,
I enjoyed reading your post, thank you for sharing your ideas and insights from this weeks reading. One of the things you mentioned that stood out to me was when you were talking about the importance of putting oneself in the artist’s shoes when looking at a piece of art, even when listening to music. I thought that was interesting because with music the artist is expressing emotions in a method that is relatively easier for the audience to understand. Generally people know more about a musician’s background too. So can we really put ourselves in a painter or sculptor’s shoes without knowing anything about them as people and relying only on a piece of art? I’m not sure that is possible. I have always thought that art is more of a personal experience. For example, the pieces of art I like, and the music I like, are usually things that I can relate to or things that resonate with me personally. In short, I am not sure I agree with the author or you about the importance of “putting yourself in the artist’s shoes.”
Hi there! After reading your response, I just want to say what a fantastic response. You related the authors ideas with your opinions in a appropriate ways. From your words, I could feel that you really enjoy this weeks reading. I was also impressed by the three eyes of knowing mentioned by Grey. In reality, different people have different understandings and opinion about one topic. From my point of view, this phenomenon is just because of the three eyes of knowing. In different level of the knowing, people have distinct understanding and have different ability to implement the three eyes. Therefore, we could see debates on one topic and we could also see some critical on Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting. Even though we try to put ourselves into artists shoes, we cannot understand the deep thoughts of the artists. However, following the three eyes of knowing, I am sure we can have a better understanding about the art works and all the substance over the world.
I really enjoyed reading your response as most of the points that you discuss involve parts of the reading that stood out to me the most. During the last portion of your post you talk about Grey’s statement that “art is the transmission of states of being”. I think that this concept of “resonating” with these “states of being” involves the viewers of art being able to identify with what is portrayed, which does not always necessarily happen. Like you, I could not fully understand or appreciate Grey’s Transfiguration painting because I simply couldn’t “resonate with those states of being” (79). I could not relate to his spiritual experience or effectively comprehend what was being illustrated through his work; however, this does not mean that I could not appreciate the painting’s beauty as well as the work and creativity behind it. I think that part of my inability to connect with the work has to do with the lack of spirituality behind most art today: “Most works of art produced during the twentieth century do not deliberately invoke or evoke God and therefore remain opaque or obscure to their true source” (79). I wonder if every work of art needs this underlying spirituality in order to have a solid foundation and purpose. Regardless, I believe that I have not had enough exposure to spiritual works of art in order to identify with or fully understand the spirituality or creativity behind them.
Thanks for your elaborative responses to the reading! You explained your thoughts and views very well.