“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once [s]he grows up.”
~ Pablo Picasso
Everyone has the ability to create and imagine. Young children and animals play in order to learn new skills needed for survival. Young lions play by stalking or chasing, while prey animals like zebras play by running and dodging. As children grow they become fearful of the judgements of others, and this fear stops them from sharing ideas. Creativity is suppressed, because it is scary to share something birthed deep from within the spirit of a person. But we must remember that every person has a right and ability to freely express themselves within a creative context.
2. Art is Play is Freedom
“To make people free is the aim of art, therefore art for me is the science of freedom.”
~ Joseph Beuys
Play is the most vital component of the creative process, before critique and analysis. It is the imagination running wild, brainstorming ideas and working with concepts. For creativity to flow freely, we must be in a state of play. Play has many benefits for adults, such as improving problem solving, reducing stress levels and enhancing connection and communication within relationships. However, what is most valuable is the sense of freedom that comes with letting go of fear of judgement, from ourselves and others. Time and place dissolve, as there is no need to produce any outcome, and the experience is all about the present moment. The artist acts upon desire rather than obligation. Within the vulnerability of play lies an expanse of total autonomy. There are no rules, and the individual is free from direction ordered upon the people through convention and fear.
3. Art as Rebellion
“Poetry and painting are done in the same way you make love; it's an exchange of blood, a total embrace - without caution, without any thought of protecting yourself.”
~ Joan Miro
The act of making art is a political one, for in a world directed by the objective of making money, to spend time being playful and imaginative for the purpose of creativity, is an act of rebellion. To make art moves the power from capitalism, back to the hands of the human being. From something outside of one’s self, controlled by time and productivity, back to the roots of touch and feel. To make art moves the power back to the hands of the human being. From something outside of one’s self, controlled by time and productivity, back to what it is to be human.
4. Within the Void
“I feel that a real living form is the result of the individual’s effort to create the living thing out of the adventure of his spirit into the unknown—where it has experienced something—felt something—it has not been understood—and from that experience comes the desire to make the unknown—known.”
~ Georgia O’Keeffe
Do not fear separation from the business of the day. Do not fear the expanse that envelops you, as the art process begins. Do not be afraid of the dark void; the unknown, uncomfortable, untouched empty canvas. The first moment of moving into the art making process is surely the hardest. Within the void, the artist is free from regulations. It is within this space that liberty thrives.
5. Everyone has the right to be free (Ways of accessing creativity)
“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.”
~ Marc Chagall
We all have a multitude of experiences that shape our internal worlds, and this is the well we have to reach from when accessing our creativity. We do not even have to try to access that which is within, best not to try. Rather, move into a place of play. Let go of conscious control, and trust your instinct to move the body into creation. This process is called automatism and can be utilised in any art form; painting, writing, movement etc. Once a piece has been created, the artist may choose to adjust their work later, as the Surrealists did. Or perhaps the work will be start and finish within the state of play, like Abstract Expressionism. It is from one’s own inner landscape, that the creation begins, and from there guides the evolution of its making.