Art is a Nickname
for something we can never pronounce
dear creators,
I borrowed the title of this letter from my book project. It says a lot about what I’m doing with all this writing which (as far as I know) is feeling for the unnameable through gateways that may ultimately lead to living a fuller life. With this intention, we’re probably better off considering words lightly—like a bunch of nicknames for things. I wonder if true names can ever be pronounced. Maybe they don’t even exist—or they do and it’s our definitions that potentially cage or warp them (and then cage and warp us).
To call something art isn’t the same thing as defining it. Once we spell out something with finality, its unlimited possibility becomes contained. Just like our potential can get walled-in by who and what we say we are.
In my last post, I asked about the nature of our own thoughts and ideas and how this could relate to a stone or a snow-stone? My own intellect tried to bust open a hundred doorways at once (like, what’s the origin of language even?—geez) but I wanna keep this in the field of boosting our creative offerings (and stay relatively sane).
(The Miette River converging with the Athabasca River outside Jasper, Alberta, Canada)
I’d like to consider the idea of a snow-stone as something both permanent and ephemeral. Is it strange that we see things as divided into opposites? For whatever reason, the straightforward nature of language is inherently dualistic. It wants to take one of two sides— as in, if such and such is true, the opposite must be false.
But humans have realized (for a while now) that opposites coexist; they're even dependent upon one another— like if we tried to erase one side of a coin, the whole coin would seize to exist. It’s weird to think that sound happens only if there’s silence, for example. Or, there’s no downside without an upside…I’m sure you get the gist.
Remember the need for mystery and certainty (not-knowing and knowing) that I already wrote about? Making art with choiceness awareness* showed me how to embrace and express the contradiction and paradox of my experience and feeling— without a need to divvy it up and solve it. What does that look like?
Back in second year art school, I started noticing multiple coexisting opposites and contradiction in my work. I wasn’t trying to put them there— they just showed up! (and I didn’t do anything to reject them). My peers also pointed these out in critiques. Here’s a short list of some of them:
making-unmaking
raw-refined
playful-violent
private-public
power-powerless
micro-macro
ephemeral—permanent
presence—absence
fact—fiction
utopia-dystopia
edit-non-edit
out of focus—focus
collective—individual
obscuring—revealing
Notice how we don’t have a word for the combo of the pairs. Like, what would you call something that is simultaneously ephemeral and permanent? Is there a word for our desire to sucker punch and hug someone dearly at the same time? (If you know of one, please share!)
Sometimes, I can’t even pinpoint the polar opposites when it comes to an experience or my feelings. Even though there’s a lot to choose from, I often find it impossible to express myself with words because they already express something else. Not everything fits into a neat category or definition and it’s like I’m floating in a vast spectrum in between (we’re all inimitable beings after all). That’s why explanations aren’t always necessary or possible and we’re all capable of creating in a way that honours the subtle multi-dimensional aspects of life.
When I’m puttin’ something out there that cannot come across in language, there’s a chance that something inexplicable can be recognized and experienced on a deep level beyond thinking (I’d like to note that words can be written/spoken in unfamiliar ways to enter those in-between, unifying and paradoxical spaces—like in poetry, songs, novels etc). Sometimes, I’m actually startled when I look at my work because it’s like the deepest most hidden parts of me are looking back. I’ll even get that feeling when I’m taking in someone else’s expression.
The ability to welcome opposites simultaneously has guided me to a lot of relief and a transformative space. My inner resistance dissolves so that even if I wanna take a side, I’m not fighting against anything. I can acknowledge an opposing side without using up energy on defence or pushing back. If I’m in this space, I’m also less susceptible to the detrimental spellbinding power of words and more inclined to use language to empower and expand.
Thoughts and ideas can take on all sorts of shapes and colours— and as long as I consider them a ride toward the experience of truth (versus an explanation or declaration) they’re pretty fun, enriching and practical.
But when my thoughts or ideas get too defined and have a stoning effect on my creative expression (or my daily life), I gotta let them crumble…and I’ll admit: this is way easier said than done when my ego is too involved. I’m far from mastering this (hmm, mastering doesn’t feel like the word I need)
Twixt us twain,
-Corrie
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P.S.
I wanted to share this poem by Zbigniew Herbert— it dropped in my lap while I was wondering about all this (and I’ll never look at a stone the same way again).
The Stone
The stone
is a perfect creature
equal to itself
mindful of its limits
filled exactly
with a pebbly meaning
with a scent which does not remind one of anything
does not frighten anything away does not arouse desire
— from Post-War Polish Poetry (Penguin 1965) Ed. & Transl. Miłosz
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* Choiceless awareness: a concept that was popularized by Indian philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti. I came across it through Bruce Lee’s mention of it— you can read more about it here: https://brucelee.com/podcast-blog/2017/8/23/60-choiceless-awareness
***
Some more stone photos all taken around Jasper, Canada— these were too big to take home with me.
And my dear elder hound, Sadie-Pony<3