Art happens in a variety of ways. In class, we discussed how art can arise from planning or from inspiration of the moment. Sometimes art arises from a combination of both, and in my opinion, the best artists are successful through a combination of both planning and creative inspiration. Literary critic Brewster Ghiselin posits in his book The Creative Process that creativity has two distinct aspects: the planning aspect of control, and the chaotic aspect of disorder. Both are necessary to create; the control can be used to format the piece successfully or to revise work, and the creative sense of disorder can be used to unleash the artist’s imagination. I believe that Michelangelo, Bernini, and myself have all used elements of both planned control and disordered chaos when creating art.
Michelangelo’s famous quote about the David exemplifies the orderly aspect of creativity. He says that he was able to look at a block of marble and carve away everything that was not the David. This is planned creativity, but Michelangelo would have had to use the other side of creativity, that of chaos. The David statue can be an example of creative chaos as well. This chaos is within the artist’s mind; in this case, the chaos helps Michelangelo to defy convention. Michelangelo could have portrayed David as many had traditionally done before him: in action after slinging the rock at Goliath, in the midst of exertion. However, he creatively dodges this interpretation, and instead portrays the beauty of man. He highlights this beauty with the tranquil expression on David’s face. I thought this was unique when I visited the David statue.
I’d imagine that Bernini would have had to use a combination of order and chaos in his creative process as well. For example, he constructed the magnificent St. Peter’s Square, which is an excellent example of orderly organizational planning. The obelisk, two fountains, and colonnades are planned with optimal efficiency. However, for works such as the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi in Piazza Navona, he probably employed a more chaotic approach to creativity. Bernini would have had to use the chaotic, risky side of creativity to represent these four allegorical figures of the Danube, Ganges, Nile, and Rio della Plata. He used his imagination to personify great rivers of history. He exemplifies Baroque style by capturing the fluid motions of a moment in this piece.
For me, art happens through a combination of order and chaos. As I discovered in when Gina visited to teach us about art, I create art in the same way that I write creatively. I like to first brainstorm by allowing my mind to go anywhere. I can either doodle or jot down words at this point. Nothing is rejected. Anything could be the path to the next step. After that, I pick the most promising ideas out of the chaos, but nothing is set in stone. I make an ordered plan of what will happen in my head, but it is still vague. For example, when we were etching on Wednesday, I went to the computer lab to print out pictures for inspiration. I had distilled the important memories of my trip down to three figures: Mother Mary, John Paul II, and St. Francis. I didn’t know if I would draw the people themselves, or things that represent them.
When I began to sketch a rough draft, an idea hit me. This idea came to me and was carried out by the creative use of chaos. I love to read novels and poems that have allusions to great works of literature, such as the ancient Greek classics. Why not apply this same idea to art? I immediately thought of my favorite piece of art so far, Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam. I believe that Michelangelo intended God’s hand reaching out to Adam’s to be a symbolic gesture of the divine reaching to help humankind. In the same way, I wanted to portray the figures of my faith as reaching down to help me. Though they are certainly not divine, I have felt a special connection to Mary, John Paul II, and St. Francis throughout this trip. I drew these figures up and to the right, as God is drawn in Michelangelo’s piece. I etched myself on the bottom left, and between us I etched a geographical representation of Italy, which replaced the arm reaching down. I used the orderly aspect of creativity to eye it critically after I had finished, and to revise my work.
It is interesting to see how elements of creative control and creative disorder can be found in the creative process of many disparate artists. From the Renaissance of Michelangelo, to the Baroque of Bernini, to the modern conception of art, these elements are crucial to both hatching an idea and carrying it out successfully in the artistic world. We will never know for certain the creative process of these magnificent artists, but we can work backwards through the steps of their creation, and try to be present in their consciousnesses. In this way, we can get a glimpse of how art happens.
Blue Guide
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