Creativity & Spirituality
“The Mission of Art,” a chapter in Art As A Spiritual Practice takes many different angles on the relationship between art and spirituality. The author, Alex Grey, paints interesting, geometric designs that strive to bind the idea of mind, body, and spirit. In my opinion, Grey writes in a way where he wants to encapsulate all pieces of art work but in some ways his views are limiting and he spends a vast majority of the time with descriptions that only apply to his work. When he describes art and the creative process he often refers to people being inspired by divinity and trying to portray a subject. But, not all art is trying to portray a subject or is inspired by some spirituality. For instance, Piet Mondrian’s “Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue,” the famous oil painting of color blocked squares does not seem to portray a subject whether person, divine being, or a landscape. In this way I think Gray has limited his view of the creative process and by labeling and putting specific steps to the process is he in some way defeating one of the purposes of art? I do not think all art necessarily follows an outline of steps in it’s creation. There is not always some great spark of inspiration from taking DMT (as Grey did) or a long period of time where a subject, if there is one at all, must be observed.
When viewing components of spirituality within artwork Grey describes that, “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” (p. 79). There are many analyses that can come from this specific quote. Firstly, he uses the statement “all art media.” This statement is all encompassing and would include anything from street art to food to “Starry Night.” Is a universal creative spirit really every artists prime mover? Are there other things that can inspire and push artists to pursue a certain piece of art work? What even is this creative spirit Grey is referring to? I find difficulties with Grey’s description and cannot tell whether he refers to the creative spirit as a supreme being like God or Allah or rather if the creative spirit is something within us that binds all of mankind to one another? Based off Grey’s liberal stances, admission to experimenting with DMT, and his studies of Hindu medicinal practices I believe it is the latter.
I find a lot of holes within Grey’s analysis of art and spirituality and feels as though he uses his own experiences with art and his own artwork to find reason and purpose. It may have been wiser of him to discuss his theory in relation to all works of art instead of his own or noted that his theory and most theories cannot always be all-encompassing.
Grey, A. (2001). Art as Spiritual Practice. The Mission of Art (1st ed., pp. 205-233). Boston & London: Shambhala.
Great post about what the article says and what you thinking about creativity and spirituality. I have different point of view of creativity and spirituality. I do not like what said in the article that makes me thinking whole different way of my life. I do not know I am the right one or he is the right one. Or there just no right answer for it. Great post anyway. This weeks article makes me confused about the topic. Hope someone could answer my question why this happened.
Vincent, I agree that the article was questionable and I also have quite a different stance than Grey. I found myself very confused at a lot of points during the reading. I felt like Grey was trying to relate his ideas to the creative process and to Hinduism (the Chakras). I found it very difficult to make the connections and understand where he was trying to go with his ideas, I felt like he jumped all over the place and made arguments that easily supported his artwork. Hopefully you did not spend too much time trying to dissect what he was getting at because even after skimming the article a second time I myself am still confused.