Art as healing/zen/meditation

[hala]

Forgive me if there is a thread like this, I searched the forum but couldn't find anything. Feel free to direct me to a thread if there is one :)

I was curious to see if anyone approaches their art from a perspective of healing or meditation. Of course there is such thing as art therapy, but what are your personal experiences with it? How have you adapted art as a means of balance and mental health in your life?

I know for me personally, my life situation hasn't ever been that great, but being able to create art, whether I share it with anyone or not, has been one of the few things that stopped me from jumping off a bridge. I'd make abstract pieces, focusing on the very moments feeling the brush hit the canvas, and being a part of the movement it takes to make each shape--eventually sinking into a state of a clear mind, much like meditation. It takes you away from the real world for a bit (escapism or healing?)

Anyone else have the same experiences with their art? trances, or rage and throwing your paint at the walls? ;)

Or do you think it's utter bullshit? Seriously, up to hear anything. :)

And for art history geeks, Joseph Beuys had the interesting idea of viewing the role of an artist as a shaman--and making art that reunited humanity with nature in the hopes of healing pain from war and turmoil. He's worth google-ing if you don't know about him.

[Crane]

oh wow, i've been going round this the wrong way.. every time i touch pencil to paper, a flower dies....

[Leonor]

Personally, I find it very destructive. I want to achieve brilliance and to be taken seriously as an artist.

[AChipps]

Art can be what you make of it. It can be stressfull, compeditive, relaxing, our dreams, or our nightmares, but it can't be phyically active. Throwing art supplies is nothing like moving heavy bags of cement, or running track, and for smokers they smoke more, or drink more. For peace of mind, or making your mind go blank is not a way to being creative that can inspire others. Most artist have a vision to get to the viewer. Joseph Beuys was not talking about how the artist should feel, but how an artist should influence others, to seek peace in there life. To tame our distructive nature. To show what Life has to offer, so people can enjoy something else in life that is not blown up or burned down, like creation of life, and open our hearts. I have done the same thing, but it takes a lot of work, and a lot of ideas to come up with something close that might inspire people. It took a long time and a lot of practice to get a skill to do it. The artist side of the story is completely different, than what the art does to the viewer, but it does come from the heart.

[hala]

Hmm.....I guess I should clarify that I wasn't reffering to work you do on a proffessional basis within your career, but art that you do personally just for yourself. ;p

crane: mmmm sarcasm, yum ;)

Leonor: why can't art as a form of healing be taken seriously?

achipps: xD the throwing art supplies part was a joke, but I agree with you for the most part. Though i don't understand why it has to inspire others--the focus is to help yourself, so why should it matter if it affects others? And I agree with your summary of beuys--you said it much better than me :)

[Black Spot]

Art can be used for escapism or clarification when you're upset, the same as writing or telling a friend.

[Elwell]

I think the arts have a lot in common with meditation, in that they develop Awareness. Learning to draw allows you to experience the world in a more complete way. Similarly, Musicians are more aware of the sounds and rhythms around them, dancers are more aware of their bodies, actors are more aware of their emotional state, etc.

[Pezz]

For me, it's being able to get lost in what I'm doing for a while... even doing serious studies or big works it... gives my brain time to sort itself out while I go through the motions. It gives my brain ample time to digest the day's events without actively rushing through them.

If i'm laying down thumbnail ideas for a piece, perspective studies, warm-up exercises... it does not matter. I lose myself in the tactile sensation.

[Viridis]

Don't mind the others, some people just can't resist sarcasm, it seems.

I think art can definitely be a very good way to relax and meditate. It's a very intuitive/subconscious process. I know for me, I'm not always perfectly aware of things when I'm painting (if that's a good way to describe it?). When I'm really involved in a painting, I don't think about how I'm going to tackle things, I just know that this color goes here, and that color goes there. Or, when I'm finished with a painting I look back and can't quite remember the process exactly.

While I personally don't sit down and do art with the express intent to meditate, I do find it very cathartic-- with the exception of those times when you hit a block and can't seem to draw your way out of a wet paper bag, even if you were drawing perfectly well the day before. ;)

[Gerulaitis]

Art can be many things. It can heal and calm as well as destroy and derange, depending on what you do and how you approach it. It's good to sometimes forget competition, active learning, making "good" pictures and just relax and enjoy the process (meditation), so is attacking the canvas with the brute force of your negative emotions (discharge), so is doing something repetitive focusing on trying to keep it consistent, like stippling (another kind of meditation). Sure, it can be escapism just aswell, like creating your own characters and worlds. But it's mostly left for personal works...

As for Beuys' ideas about artist as shaman... not very surprising where he comes from. If you happened to see a contemporary performance or two and have read descriptions of shamanistic rituals in various cultures - there seems to be alot in common, especially the way artist/shaman tells stories, impacts emotions, enters a trance/meditation and chooses to represent the metaphysical and intangible. Most likely art has been related to beliefs, rituals and meditations since the most distant of times, we have cave paintings (unbelievably well-drawn, btw), ancient idol objects and an ongoing tradition of mandalas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala) (what can be more meditational?).

[kev ferrara]

The mastery of one's art is a metaphor for the mastery of self. Authority is the critical question.

[hala]

I think what a couple of you mentioned with repetition of your studies or a certain tactile feeling is interesting. I think it was in "drawing on the right side of the brain" that when you've truly achieved being in the "drawing" side of your brain, that you lose track of time, and you are simply working moment by moment. It feels productive no? I feel like a lot times when we aren't satisfied with our studies or our work, having moments like that (whether it's personal, or something work/project related) makes you feel acchomplished or productive, no?

I enjoy reading the responses, and I think "cathartic" was a good word flame raven.

kev, what do you mean by authority?

Haha and sarcasm is welcome ;p we all need a daily dose of hard humor ;) can't be serious business all the time ;) (Unless you're a hustler ;) )

[dose]

Elwell nailed it- it's all about awareness. Usually we're basically only aware of the jumble of thoughts in our heads. Art, music, and meditation can help shift our awareness the physical world around us for a time. That's satisfying because it's real, as opposed to the drama in our heads. It's also liberating to be unperturbed by the constant thinking on occasion.

There's a long history of art as meditation in the East. You might want to check out Asian calligraphy and brush painting if you're interesting in connecting with a tradition that thinks along these lines.

[XanaChama]

It depends on the person and what makes you who you are. What may be a release for you in that area may not be a release for someone else.

When I am being, coexisting through self, living through my experiences to my 100%, I am most myself. Art just happens to be one of those grounds for me, because it feeds this process, this relationship to myself. But so does listening to music, watching a good TV show and enjoying tea. A mix of those activities on a regular basis, keeps me more centered. Just like some people can't think about issues because it promotes the opposite for them. They have to "feel" it before they can get through it, to loosen it into deeper areas, so that they can more naturally resolve them. Then they are able to confront things in a new light... that can be considered rejuvenation or being more 'centered'.

As far as the activities themselves I think it might be more based on what best expresses 'you'. Like what let's you stretch more than just your everyday muscles (physical or not)... kinda like when you start to massage muscles that haven't had care in a long time, have grinded to a halt, and are full of tension. It's letting the blood and energy flow back into those areas.

For some people though, expression is adding to the frustration, but it comes full circle if you give it time and yourself time to do the work... it then starts to rejuvenate you. If you're willing to get past that block when trying to care for yourself overall, then you can get find healing or 'zen' in a lot of things. But everyday activities, monotony, things that don't lead back to our core... if there is no consistency with ourselves in our lives, overtime it causes us to block, rebel, or otherwise lose our minds. We are only at our best/100% as 'ourselves'. Just as some people get instant drain living a life not meant for them... others handle it better because it suits them closer. You have to think about it in the context of who you most are, not the activity itself. I think that's really the issue.