To Create
October 30th, 2007“The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact w/ the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.” – Marcel Duchamp
The other day in class we looked at a few art pieces, one by Marcel Duchamp and another by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. We had a long discussion about interpretation, how we see the pieces, how we interact with them and how we discern meaning. Before we began my professor asked that the students who had studied art history in college would please remain from commenting, since they probably had knowledge about the pieces, such as their titles, who created them, and what meanings are meant to be abstracted.
Dwight, our professor, asked the students what they thought. People gave all kinds of opinions about each piece. Some were literal. Others more conceptual. Finally after giving everyone a chance to contribute, Dwight would ask if any students who had studied art knew details about the piece. For each painting someone would raise their hand and proceed to give a wealth of information. Author. Time period. Title. Medium. Inspirations. Meaning. It was stunning and inspiring how much they knew.
After a bit my friend John raised his hand and said, “Dwight, I find it fascinating that you did not begin this conversation with any sort of claim to be an expert on these pieces of art, and yet you are able to facilitate a conversation, and with your guidance and the input of the community we are all able to gain a wealth of knowledge.”
Two things have stuck with me this past week from that class. One is that I think there is a tremendous amount of pressure on pastors in the local church to be experts on the text. I think I enter into a church gathering with the idea that the pastor is to have studied all week and to have somehow figured out the passage. That is unfair for me to do.
But what if there was a community that allowed the lead teaching pastor to facilitate discussion on a piece of text that they’ve been wrestling with, and having made some observations then opened it up to the church to elaborate upon. I think I would move anywhere to be a part of that sort of community, a community of co-authors.
The second thing has to do with the act of creating, being a creator, and co-creating.
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Why do we all love music? Why do we appreciate art, whether it is painting or sculpting or architecture or design or photography or an opera or film or any other form of creating? It is in us. We all appreciate art in some form, and I think we are all creative. It comes out differently in every individual. There is an art to mathematics. Art in running a marathon. There is an art to writing beautiful poetry or a moving novel. I see art and beauty in cooking an elegant meal and in acting in a theater and in nurturing a garden.
I think these things are in us, both creating and participating in and appreciating creations, because they are in God. God is a tirelessly creative God. He can’t help it. It’s in Him.
I do not create as a means to an end. I create as a means. I have to because it is in me, and it must flow out. Of course there are parts in me, and parts in everyone I would assume (though I am careful with that) that long to be validated. Told we’re ok. Appreciated and loved. Feedback is always encouraging, but I know that even if I didn’t have this space, or the space on Flickr and To Write With Light, that I would continue to create. Even if no one ever saw my photographs I would still click the shutter. If no one ever heard me sing I would still sing. There are things in me I long to express, and ultimately I am expressing them to God, as He is the creative one who created me in the first place.
There is another aspect in this: co-creating. When you create something, I enter into it and participate. I interact with your art somehow, be it through viewing a photograph or tasting wonderful food. And then I interpret it into my own story, and it inspires me to create something myself. In this way we are co-creating together. You write a story. I read the story and it speaks to me. Tells me who I am. Moves me. We co-author together. We dance together in this art.
And so I ask you, what do you love? Do you love photography? Are you taking photographs simply because you love to tell a story without words? Do it more and more. Keep creating. Are you cooking food that speaks of the beauty of God and the earth? Send me a box of goodies. Just kidding. 135 29th Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98112.
Are you inspired to write? Keep a daily journal. Write down every beautiful detail that you can; how the room smelled and the way she looked at you that night. Write about how you felt when he left or after she died. Write about your childhood. Every writer should write about their childhood. Write about the good things. The difficult things. The wonderful friendships and the terrible loss you’ve walked through. (I have a journal that I’ve been writing in for years with more detail than you can imagine, and you’ll never read a word of it, because it’s not for you. It’s just for me and hopefully my children some day. And so I continue to write.)
Run. Plant. Sculpt. Observe. Play. Listen. Paint. Mold. Explore. Develop. Discover. Sew. Design. Draw. Type. Taste. Sing. Strum. Capture. Move.
Don’t succumb to the lie that everything you create must be extravagant or astonishing. Remember that there is brilliance in the basic.
Don’t worry about who will see it or if anyone will ever see it.
But rather, create because you were created to create.
Tags: art, photography, Quotes, spirituality
what a beautiful, inspiring post! gorgeous!
i’ve been thinking about the always-changing beauty that God has created all around us, every day. things that we often take for granted. sometimes we even think they are boring. but it’s only because we haven’t looked closer and haven’t taken the time to see the wonder in those things. like the colors of autumn leaves. or sound of waves crashing against the shore. or the design in a seashell. or the texture of a piece of dried up grass. it is amazing.
i think God really likes it when we enjoy life, when we take notice and create. we were made in his image, so we are reflecting him in those acts. I LOVE IT!!!!!
Thanks Joshua, that was a beautiful post and a good reminder to keep clicking my shutter and learning how to create. I am humbled by the amazing artists out there. Just incredible.
Peace, love, beer,
BS
I realized in the past few months that I feel like part of me is dying if I can’t put my fingers to a piano or a pen to paper. I never thought of creating in this way, though…so I really appreciate your words.
“Don’t succumb to the lie that everything you create must be extravagant or astonishing. Remember that there is brilliance in the basic.”
So very, very true. Something that’s been on my mind lately is the “everyday extraordinary.” In finding rhythm, community and life and laughter and tears come out of the woodwork.
Thanks, Josh. :)
Thank you, Joshua, I needed your words today… beautiful thought provoking post.
Peace
great thoughts man. i needed this today.
I contribute occasionally to an online art journal community, and i wrote this in one of my recent posts:
‘…and i also want to say that i am always so greatly encouraged by the creativity, color, emotion and heart in this community. please continue to draw, paint, sketch, write, cut+paste, or whatever you do best. please just never stop creating, especially if it is a part of you.’
i think you said it best though, when you said that you have to create ‘because it is in me, and it must flow out’ (Longbrake, 2007). (heh i was essay writing till 6am)
An inspiring post indeed :)
i look forward to your posts. this one was awesome.
I love ‘that’…that you can create something to transport you back to the smells of a childhood or transport someone else to your childhood through words or sounds…we all get to know each other more and why we are the way we are…then maybe because we understand our friends art, we grow more patient and loving towards that person, realizing they are expressing experiences, hurts, loves, predispositions, etc. and the beauty is the art but even more so, the beauty is the heart and mind of the artist…it is WHO they ARE.
Great post.
I will offer one thought.
As you explain, “There is an art to mathematics. Art in running a marathon. There is an art to writing beautiful poetry or a moving novel. I see art and beauty in cooking an elegant meal and in acting in a theater and in nurturing a garden.†I began thinking about how the church uses the words art and creativity. While I agree with you, everyone is creative, I do not believe that everyone is artistic and the over emphasis on our “worship arts teamsâ€, “art in churchâ€, and “fine art as culture” have lead people to believe that they are not creative because they cannot paint, sing, dance, or take pretty pictures. So while there may actually be some kind of ART involved in running a marathon, I would prefer to refer to that as CREATIVITY in running a marathon. We are each creative in ways that others are not, we each have a unique creative fingerprint, and that does not necessarily mean artistic expression. It means creating.
@Jarrod Shappell: First of all, you have an awkward amount of double letters in your name.
Secondly, I think I agree with you, but I disagree as well. The church overuses the word art and somewhat cheapens it, but I don’t adhere to the church’s definition most of the time.
I have seen artful running. I have seen grace in a stride that was practiced and perfected. Rare, but true. Art, and the appreciation of art, is in everyone. Some may feel that this is a generalization, but I don’t think it is. I’m not saying that everything is art. On the contrary, there are some things that are blazingly against art and the creative process. My hope is that people are encouraged and inspired to create, to be artistic, and to see art in the ordinary.
Let’s not talk about churches and creativity in this space. It would be a circular conversation and very frustrating, and then we couldn’t be friends anymore and I couldn’t come over to your place, eat your food, and kick your toosh toosh in Mario Party 8 on Wii.
9 stars in one round. Face.
Don’t shake the can.
Wow. That’s probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard. Awesome.
Now it’s time to contemplate.
wordsworth, “emotion recollected in tranquility”:
These beauteous forms,
Through a long absence, have not been to me
As is a landscape to a blind man’s eye:
But oft, in lonely rooms, and ‘mid the din
Of towns and cities, I have owed to them
In hours of weariness, sensations sweet,
Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart;
And passing even into my purer mind,
With tranquil restoration:–feelings too 30 Of unremembered pleasure….
brilliance in the basic. i love that.
I love that last photo. I love the other ones too. But I love the last one. a lot.
Thanks for reminding me why I love to write.
[...] Post of the day to Love in the Key of Longbrake for Create. [...]
Hey Josh, after a long hiatus I hope to be back now - been travelling a lot lately. Hmmmm… interesting thoughts on teaching & community & art…
Is it really unfair to expect a pastor-teacher to have a good grasp of the text? I totally appreciate questioning whether members should expect the teacher to do all the work for them - after all, it’s been said “ya only get out of a class what you’re willing to put into it.” On the other hand, I don’t think I could respect a teacher that isn’t willing to take a good chunk of their week to wrestle w/ the Word (written & Living) & let Him wrestle w/ themself. There’s a lot to be said for that Puritanic tradition. The question becomes whether the community thinks just “hearing” is enough or if they’re willing to let the Word judge & transform them as well.
Both approaches (straight-up teaching & interactive teaching) have validity & are useful - I tend to think they go best hand-in-hand.
Joshua,
You’re post brought me to tears today. It is exactly what I’ve been needing to hear. I wrote a quick song yesterday about how I’d lost the love of music because it lost it’s love in me and all of it had been spawned from the feeling of a lack of creativity.
I do some photography as well and I always find myself comparing it to yours and I become discouraged because I’m no where near as good as you. But you reminded me of something. It’s not about me trying to meet up or even surpass yours or anyone else’s standards. It’s to simply create because I was created.
Thanks again for the much needed tears and encouragment to keep going on.
It just made my day alot easier to get through.
i create because i have been created. its an overflow from my soul.
i have been wresteling with this lately. your words have spoke to my heart at just the right time. thank you.
i have this journal of sorts that i have been writing in for a little while now…i’ve challenged myself to write in it everyday. and everyday i write about where god has shown himself to me. one day i wrote about feeling him in a cool spring breeze - i breathed in deep, so deep it burned my lungs, it reminded me that i am alive and that I AM is alive. the journal is something that probably no one will ever see, but it helps me to keep searching for god in places and things i wouldnt typically think he reveals himself in/through.
Can I request that last (rain drop) photo for purchasing?
as an artist who is having “creating-block” (for at least the past 5 days) this is what i needed to read.
thanks friend.
lovely lovely post.
what are your thoughts on creating as an end all unto itself? To me, its not even really a mean, because by the simple act of creating it is fulfilling all that it should. Maybe it is an end and a means…or maybe I just read too much immanuel kant…
@Becca: I think the thing w/ creating (even think of Creation itself, that is of the universe) is that it is formed and then it continues to form (maybe via interpretation of others). So I think it is fulfilling all that it should, but I think it continues to fulfill once it is created. Does that resonate?
Yes, that makes perfect sense, especially for those who put their creation out for interpretation of others. Here is where I differ
though: I am a writer who doesn’t put it out for others to take notice of (the only real exceptions are the occasional warranted editorial to the campus paper), so my writing is for the act of it. The release is the end for me. I understand how for some it is not, especially with the ultimate Creation, but for me, it is encapsulated by the flow.
I don’t know if you are a runner, but its weirdly the same feeling for me. I run for the act of running, for the freedom and release. Its end
is found in the act, not the finish, or the time, but in the stride and the breath and the tension.
Maybe the two should never be paralleled, but it works in my head for some strange reason…
Here’s where the interpretation lies for creating in that sense:
You will one day re-address your writings. Even if no one else does, you presumably will. You will see how you’ve changed, where you were, where you are, where you might be. Your running, though it’s not as obvious, will have an affect on you in the future, and you’ll look back on that, remember how you ran, what you were thinking, etc.
What I’m saying is this: I think that no art goes uninterpreted. You create and you interpret. Sometimes you create and you interpret and others interpret.
I love that picture of Diamond…as always you’re brilliant.
Great pictures. Incredible.
I love your blog. Kudos. I had one conversation with you like 6 years ago, when I was a 7th grader sitting in the hallway outside Mr. McKown’s room at BCS, because I had gotten in trouble and you passed by and stopped to talk to me for a few minutes. I thought you were cool because you had a messenger bag like me. I found your blog on Andy Booth’s page. Thanks for brightening my day 6 years ago. :)
Great post, Joshua. I’ve always loved thinking about how this desire we have to create is part of the result of us being made “in His image.” Just one part of our inheritance which has made us inherently separate from “animals.”
i love love in the key of longbrake. you stop me in my tracks and shake my bones. the way you use words and envoke emotion through simple combinations is exquiste! please please never stop
i’m using your green wallpaper for the banner part in my “blog”… hope you don’t mind.
listening to death cab. miss you.
try and give you another call this weekend.
I really liked this one. dad
if you haven’t already, you should read madeleine l’engle’s “walking on water”. your words about creating because we were made to create resonate with l’engle’s ideas in this book.
much gratitude
love the photos.
love it
love it
and loving it! =)
It is 7:04 a.m. and I woke up at 6:30ish already tired because my plate is full. I woke up tired but with a sense of anticipation because I shot photographs for a good 12 hours this weekend (and am earning a decent living at it ?!??).
I am training for a marathon but an injured knee has slowed me down a bit. The running, though, is all good.
But I ache to write. It is my first love. Your blog made me cry and reminded me that this stuff– photos, running, writing (and I wish cooking)– is part of the way we get to show the world what Jesus is like. I love that. Thank you.
It is 7:07 a.m. and I am smiling.
these thoughts…thank you for them. i say yes.
just echoing others thoughts..this was a quite nicely written and needed encouragement for someone who has been feeling in a bit of a creative funk after relocating and starting school again.
so thanks :)
p.s. your “hello paul. you frustrate me” post on relevant was great as well
[...] To Create - Joshua/Love in the Key of Longbrake [...]
I second Madeleine L’Engle’s book “Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art” as being an inspiration. That book along with Rilke’s “Letters to a Young Poet” have kept my desire and passion for writing alive during discouraging and dry times.
L’Engle’s words have consistenty been a blessing to me and my gift, whether great or little, beginning with “A Wrinkle in Time.”
“We each have to say it, to say it in our own way. Not of our own will, but as it comes out through us. Good or bad, great or little: that isn’t what human creation is about. It is that we have to try; to put it down in pigment, or words, or musical notations, or we die.”
- Madeleine L’Engle
it would take too much time to explain how I actually happened upon your site, but Seattle, photos, and faith all drew me in. I especially appreciate this post, both words and pictures are beautiful. I look forward to more.