This is an abstract thought:
What is my art? What does it stand for? What does it express?
Questions that many artists ask of themselves. I am a dancer. Or lets just say I love to dance. Why do I dance? So far I have danced because I love it. It calls to me and I go. And I do one more thing; When I go, I take as many with me as I can.
I have danced to enjoy, put up shows for people to enjoy the movements within the music. My contribution has been to those whom I have taken with me to experience, those who thought they could not. But I have believed that "everyone can dance". That is how I have lead my groups. There have been no auditions. Everyone is allowed to go and express their joy. And I do whatever I can to make it happen.
My art has been my own and for those who shared the stage with me. Those who witnessed were much welcome.
And now I stop again to ask, what is my art? What do I express? What are my responsibilities as an artist to my audience? What can I further contribute to?
I now realize an artist's burden. As a scientist, it is upon me to find cures for the body, as an artist it is upon me to find cures for the soul. (If there is such a thing as a cure, that is).
My creation would be carved out of my experiences, feelings and beliefs. That is where it would start. I would pass this ideology to my co-performers and we will have inputs where everyone's personality brings in new aspects. So now we have this structure and within this structure there are movements, gestures improvised by our lives and experience (as performers and otherwise). As an artist I am capable of doing this. I am aware - of my body, my emotions, my movements. Much of my audience is not.
The world is full of people who do not know what they feel, or then, cant balance on a single leg. My responsibility is to such people. They do not know my life. But as they come and watch my dance, movements and expressions, do they see themselves in me, the performer. Is what I express, what they feel?
Some of the greatest plays and shows in history have awaken people to what they could not see.
And this is why an art needs to evolve itself, or bring the change.
Yes, art can be that powerful....!!!
What is my art? What does it stand for? What does it express?
Questions that many artists ask of themselves. I am a dancer. Or lets just say I love to dance. Why do I dance? So far I have danced because I love it. It calls to me and I go. And I do one more thing; When I go, I take as many with me as I can.
I have danced to enjoy, put up shows for people to enjoy the movements within the music. My contribution has been to those whom I have taken with me to experience, those who thought they could not. But I have believed that "everyone can dance". That is how I have lead my groups. There have been no auditions. Everyone is allowed to go and express their joy. And I do whatever I can to make it happen.
My art has been my own and for those who shared the stage with me. Those who witnessed were much welcome.
And now I stop again to ask, what is my art? What do I express? What are my responsibilities as an artist to my audience? What can I further contribute to?
I now realize an artist's burden. As a scientist, it is upon me to find cures for the body, as an artist it is upon me to find cures for the soul. (If there is such a thing as a cure, that is).
My creation would be carved out of my experiences, feelings and beliefs. That is where it would start. I would pass this ideology to my co-performers and we will have inputs where everyone's personality brings in new aspects. So now we have this structure and within this structure there are movements, gestures improvised by our lives and experience (as performers and otherwise). As an artist I am capable of doing this. I am aware - of my body, my emotions, my movements. Much of my audience is not.
The world is full of people who do not know what they feel, or then, cant balance on a single leg. My responsibility is to such people. They do not know my life. But as they come and watch my dance, movements and expressions, do they see themselves in me, the performer. Is what I express, what they feel?
Some of the greatest plays and shows in history have awaken people to what they could not see.
And this is why an art needs to evolve itself, or bring the change.
Yes, art can be that powerful....!!!
You can only make dance when you are true to yourself. With sincere heart and mind. You cannot make art just for the sake of it. And when you are able to do that: being able to speak your mind through your movements, the audience not only experiences you as a performer but also is able to almost touch the person that you are.
ReplyDeleteI dont think I qualify to say "very true" because I dont think I am at that level yet. But an excellent thought. Thank you Aastha.
DeleteIn parallel some of the religious festivals also try to bring people together and make them see some of the social - political events. Like ganapti festival made famous by shivaji was to unite ppl against British, rite?. There too some of the dances (a form of war steps) was used as a tool to communicate n teach general public. The impact of theaters or any kind of art is immense, I think that might also be one of the reason why plays, theaters are banned at the state of national emergency.
ReplyDeleteGood going Mathur ☺
Interesting point!
DeleteTo a large extent, I agree with Aastha's comment. I think to assume the "artist's burden" is to pre-empt the question: Is this who I am? Am I the person whose everyday life is occupied to a large extent by a sense of responsibility towards others?
ReplyDeleteWithout doubt, art arises from a specific context and your life experiences. But the person behind the art will eventually determine its specific purpose or function: will it be to entertain, to take people out of their daily routines for a small amount of time (and then forgotten), to educate, to illuminate, to provoke or to inspire?
Each of these is a valid and important function, and I would not put one over the other. If my art does not "awaken" people and societies, does it mean it is not powerful? Should someone even aim to "awaken"? Will such art be different from propaganda?
There is always a tension between art as the search for personal meaning and art for social awakening. For some people, these may be the same thing. But not all artists equate personal meaning with social awakening. It may just be the urge to create something beautiful, or something trivial; The "burden" is optional, to me!
In reference to our conversation, I would add here: We discussed and agreed that the burden during conceiving an art is indeed optional. However, an acknowledgement of the burden is important.
DeleteAnd the question that opened up: If an artist makes creates something which is true to himself, and it transcends through a large variety of audience without an intention of "awakening", that probably is art at its best!