|
In response to Harold Taylors' "plea for the robust assertion of personal belief, (1) I recognize and add to the many lists of man's needs, the need which each man has to touch, express, experience, relate to, or be one with something greater than himself. The need to know within and to say to the world that inside is something magnificent, beautiful, and individual which body and mind can not always express nor even understand, but which is. I believe
this intuitive
knowing is
pushing
each individual
to know his oneness with greatness.
Unfortunately this
need neither
recognized nor fulfilled, expresses
itself in
many negative
ways: (2) The increasing percentage of mental disorders indicate an
increasing inability of adjusting to society, as well as our own image
of ourselves. (3) Each man is inwardly shouting, here am I. Each
one aware that he is unique and potentially great.
It is this feeble light which I identify as the soul's inner call to creativeness, an inner drive to express creative source- a return to Oneness. Gardner Murphy presents the thesis that man is evolving towards a more advanced nature, the present stage of evolvement being a need for creative activity. He also presents for consideration (6)
The creative thrust which Murphy recognizes seems to be an indication that more and more individuals are pursuing this inner call to realize these deeper contacts with cosmic structure. However until men turn from statements of the material and probe deeper into their own vast cosmic storehouse, they will not find fulfillment nor give fulfillment to the viewers of their art. When they are true works/sof art, such forms fulfil their purposes and nourish the spirit,(8) If we examine the eastern cultures we find philosophies which maintain that man is indeed a part of the cosmic forces and only his veil of Maya separates him from this blissful Oneness with All. (9) I propose that it is this belief which has developed asiatic art forms into things traditional, stylized, beautiful, uplifting, symbolically spiritual, and personally meaningful. The peoples of the east can feel their individual oneness, their greatness, through meditation, mystical and spiritual experiences, and the viewing or recreating in precision and perfecting the ancient arts. (10) The western
mind scientifically
recognizes himself
primarily as a body, unique
in this
sense, seems
to impulsively
run from
method to method, and style to style both, in his philosophy about
art and his expressions
of IT. (11) The relatively new classical ballet (13) was soon criticized for its emphasis on external technique. (14) Many philosophies and personal approaches have developed in the field of western dance to emphasize that man's body is not more Important than what man is within, as expressed by his emotions, statements, abstract expressions. Miss Martha Graham's experimentation with movement was for the expression "new truth which Miss Graham found impossible to express in any of ways in which dancers, choreographers, and playwrights had taken before her. (15) The arts do and should continue to satisfy man's need for universal
Oneness,
If we allow the arts to wallow in the depiction of material
ugliness than why should man continue
to turn to art for the satisfaction which he craves.
Granted the German artists of the second World War, our current Beat
poets, pop artist, and Ann Halperns
are expressing reality as they see it, but as stated in class, we
perceive what we need.
(16). These individual artists
needed to see this ugly part of life in order to continue their search
for individual recognition.
Artists should recognize that man needs
even more importantly to counteract what his continually In conclusion, I believe as expressed by our society's a creative thrust, and my evaluation of that social direction thrust that man has a more important need, that of the reinforcement of his innate sense of inner greatness and Cosmic Oneness, I further state that this need can and should be fulfilled by the encouragement and providing avenues for creative activity in all people.
|
1 Dr. Harold Taylor, "Art and the
Intellect," Lecture given at the l8th Annual
Conference of the National
Committee on Art Education, sponsored by the
B. de Rothschild Foundation for the Arts and Sciences, (New York The
Museum of Modern Art, 1960), p.
18. 2 "People", Time (October 1, 1965) 3 Karen Horney, M.D., Our Inner Conflicts (New York: W,W. Norton, 1945). P. 183 4 George G. Romans, The Human group, (New York Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1950) p, 367. 5 Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spirit in Art, (New York: George Wittenbord, 1947, p. 24 6 Gardner Murphy, Human Potentialities
. (Now York; Basic Books, 1958
p. 6 9 'Laina
Anagarika Govinda, Foundations
of Tibetan Mysticism, (New
York: E,P,
Dutton, 1960); 11 John Martin, Introduction to the Dance,
(New York; Dance Horizons, 1965) p. 19 18 Kandinsky, op. cit., pp. 74-75.
|