Energy

I'm trying to understand the idea of art, what it means to foster it and to be a part of it. The role of a creator and appreciation and criticism of creation. There is so much unnecessary worry, so many distractions, so much anxiety and frustration that obscures the real power of the individual in art. Its hard to find anything real behind the false idols of tribute and self congratulation. The solipsism of denial. Somehow a few ideas emerge.

I used to be completely terrified of the idea of non-existence, an almost constant all consuming worry with no resolution. Eventually I got distracted, or the fear subsided, but it always remained, quelled and dormant beneath the more corporal anxieties that took precedence. Perhaps that fear urged me on in an academic pursuit of religion and philosophy, essentially the dialectic of nothing versus something. But the something was never enough, not sufficiently satisfying as to scar the darkness of nothing with so much light that it became an unrecognizable fear. (Of course I was always loathe to accept anything without energetic, sincere and scathing logical and reason, or at least something like it, so there always existed an appropriate tension between curiosity and unrelenting standard of proof* which fueled my search and, at least in my opinion, lent some sort of legitimacy to my modest discoveries.)

If it seems like this is a digression, well, that’s because it is, a bit. Not into a statement of biography that might send my dear readers into a tangential story about the gory details of my murky cosmogony (not because I lack confidence it its interest, I simply lack the will to synthesize all of that into such a miniscule statement, albeit one that has already grown beyond my intentions. ) I simply mean to impress the sort of friction constantly in the back of my mind, a dance of being and nothingness (to borrow a phrase from Sartre) that has lead us to my modest point.

Basically when I feel the most anxiety about any idea of the fragility of art or self I consider my place as a kind of universal being. We are all made of stardust billions of years old. Cosmic legacy. No myths, no figurehead, no language or sign or symbol. Those will always fall short. So what remains? Energy.

Art creates energetic connections….can’t see them but they remain. Art is unchanged raw dynamic energy, carved out by the artist to be a testament to a moment in time-as such, it cannot remain going forward, but it does remain as a link in the energy chain its own presence necessitates, a moving on to build forward. Recognize the continual process. That constant onward motion is life energy so the creations themselves are vital to the kind of energy that moves forward. (Creations referencing the past too much either strain the energy of forward motion or move back, creations that critique illuminate the present create an increasing forward momentum.) Are we going lightning speed, contributing to our own momentum in an interstellar space train, or sludging forward with feet in wet concrete? Think about progress. Worship at the altar of dynamism. You are raw unchained energy and you can create positive or negative connections. It doesn’t seem like it but it is up to you. You might believe you are a product of turbulence and confusion (like most art itself) but it doesn’t matter. You have insane potential and can do and be whatever you want. Further than static creation, art is the vitality of experience when you allow yourself to sink into the moment.** Love energy, art energy, sin energy, fear energy, life and death and rebirth energy. Realize dynamic connections and thrive on them.

Energy reverberates. Energy never dies.

*This is something I'm certain I'll never be cured of.

**Great art is difficult.