Saturday, May 22, 2010

The energy that creates them...



"Naked I came into the world, but brush strokes cover me, language raises me, music rhythms me. Art is my rod and staff, my resting place and shield, and not mine only, for art leaves nobody out. Even those from whom art has been stolen away by tyranny, by poverty, begin to make it again. If the arts did not exist, at every moment, someone would begin to create them, in song, out of dust and mud, and although the artifacts might be destroyed, the energy that creates them is not destroyed."
- Jeanette Winterson
Art Objects
the constant reader's archived commonplace book

10 comments:

Blue Sky Dreaming said...

well said.

blue china studio happy said...

I really enjoyed this. I've been examining my creativy low I seem to be in and I find these words encouraging.

I'm fairly new to your blog but I think you changed the look? No matter, I really like it whether new or not. :-)

Altoon Sultan said...

A beautiful quote, Sophie. I've long believed that homo sapiens is wired for art; just look at cave paintings done 30,000 years ago.

Sophie Munns said...

Its a blue sky outside this morning Maryanne... glad you visited!


Blue China Studio...its a blue sky, sunshiny morning_ how are you going Jacilyn? Everyone I think can relate to what you were speaking of at your blog! Those spells of inactivity, stuckness, momentary pause that feel longer usually than they are!
I think this new look has been coming in for a while...Blogger sent out options for new templates around march and the best thing was the width of the page expanded and allowed more editorial space and wider images. Another advantage was much more choice for layout and the frame around things- I chose the least intrusive i could find because in one sense I liked the old look with out any frames.

But when you are loading up you sidebar with info about another blog and residency work and so on....then it becomes necessary to have a more organised vehicle for formatting all that!

Both this and my Homage blog are busy and information heavy so there was a strong desire to have the headers and first things you seed on the blogs as they open e somehow as quiet and calm as possible...
Thanks for your comments!


Hi Altoon,
Yes...exactly...those cave paintings were the first art we looked at in Art at High school which was rather a good thing because it planted an idea in my mind right then and there that art is not European and more recent and therefore we should all aspire to paint like Da Vinci. Although we never discussed indigenous art once at school in the 70's - from those wall paintings I knew all people across time and the globe had their art and we should never overlook that fact!

And I so loved this quote!

Lorena said...

Great post, I love the interconnectedness of art/ life/ science, it's so fascinating. The poster of stuff was interesting too.I think the world is on the verge of a new eco- techno Renaissance that's all encompassing including the arts.

Ulla said...

Hello Sophie,
great quote!!
Thanks for visiting my blog and your nice comment!
Many greetings from Bonn, Germany!
Ulla

Sophie Munns said...

Hi Lorena,
thanks for your excellent comments... yes...I think there is a truly interesting cross-pollination and merging going at at this time...and in the nick of time. Things have been so split and for so long...
In the same way that scientists cant sit in labs away from the public conversations about the greater good I dont thing artists can wisely avoid knowing what is going on in the world either... and need to interest themselves in bigger agendas...if they want a world in which to practice their art that is an intact one!
Its not the moment for ivory towers - rather its a rich dialogue needed between all....and the sharing of knowledge and dare I say it enthusiasm.

Sophie Munns said...

Hello Ulla,
nice to hear from you. I visited Bonn years ago very briefly...a lovely city!
Thanks for youwarm response,
Sophie

em said...

hi sophie, what wonderful curation in the post below. seeing those particular artworks together brought tears to my eyes for some reason. maybe it was the butterfly quote. so beautiful... you would be great at curating museum shows...

Sophie Munns said...

Thank you Em for such lovely words.
I can understand your response - I 'saturated' the post in these ideas straight from the titles of each post they came from - so the ideas are very dense, the artwork indicative of realms of thought and the overall effect is to be saturated in the profundity , the marvelousness and fragility of the human condition and life on this planet.
Being as immersed as you are in the garden you create and with little time for that during your busy weeks you are constantly bridging 2 very different worlds...
In a way I didn't realise when putting this together... there is a kind of story implied in the words and images... the butterfly quote reminds us of the fact of being mere specs in this vast universe and the terrible beauty in that thought... the bitter-sweetness of that. I think Science is telling us quite loudly of our fragile planet but it is Art that may take us poetically closer to that fact and console us somehow for the loss implied... the capacity to embrace the bitter-sweetness of life often comes through art, music, literature...and this time I believe requires such offerings!