The Creative Process as A Dream State

Comment by NatureJunkie on August 16, 2009 at 4:31pm

I majored in art, and for a long time I considered myself an artist. But creating anything was hard work for me. I liked having an end product more than I liked the making of it. What you're describing, that sense of lost time and a dream-like state, is what psychologists call "flow," and almost all artists experience it, but I don't. Consequently I stopped thinking of myself as an artist. It was very freeing for me when I acknowledged to myself that I can be a creative human being without being an artist.

Comment by Chig on August 16, 2009 at 5:17pm

Ah the creative process is good at robbing a person of living the experience.... The hope to make something that stands testament to your creative ability especially over time is like a drug. But then again, perhaps it is not really living without the drug. Perhaps if we all felt as passionate as making a doodey as we do about our art we will lose hours of living the experience sitting on the loo. Sometimes a comment is art. Sometimes it is doodey. Either way I robbed you of 30 seconds living your experience.

Comment by SydTheSkeptic on August 16, 2009 at 5:21pm

Comment by SydTheSkeptic on August 16, 2009 at 6:26pm

Sara- we experience the process differently, I think. It's such a place of joy and timelessness for me, as though I'm really an observer watching some other force work through me. It's not like the results are anything incredible, it's that the feeling is.

However, when I'm writing (which I see as less tactile- more in the head kind of creativity), it's how you describe it. It's painful but I have to work through it and it IS rewarding when I'm able to complete something.

NatureJunkie- "Flow", I think there's even a book by that name about that state of being...
It's interesting that you endeavored to become an artist but never had that feeling. Was the process difficult for you?

Chig- How do you know I wasn't in the process of making artful doody while reading your comment...?

Comment by photo2010 on August 16, 2009 at 10:26pm

Syd,
When I discovered that I could express myself with photography, my life changed. From taking the picture, to developing the film, to the magical moment of seeing my first print form an image, I knew what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. The process, from pre-visualization of the print even before raising camera to eye, to seeking the best angle, whether it be laying on the ground or climbing a rooftop, to mixing the developer, was all-encompassing, visceral and mystical. I loved every aspect of it. When I taught photography, seeing a students eyes light up when they developed their first roll, or saw their first print come up in the developer, always brought me back to my own experience. Doing photography for a living meant deadlines, and that took a lot of the joy out of things for me. But I still was lucky to make a career out of my muse.

I am curious about something though Syd. You mention wanting to use your hands more in your creative endeavors, but I see your vids as very physical. From Twinkie-Jesus, to climbing a tree, to your Burning Man, (I know it wasn't burning man, but I forget what it was called), vids. I find them all very physical and visceral AND entertaining, intellectual, and more. What do you find missing?

Comment by BlancheNoE on August 17, 2009 at 6:27pm

I am a tool. Yeah MOTC, I said it. I know you'd rather Chig had said it, but *I* said it.
Syd, when you said conduit *ding-ding-ding-ding*,...my favorite stuff that I "create" is the stuff that I just feel like I got to be there for. It really does seem like some works of art literally make themselves and I'm just there for tool manipulation. I have a great story about a 15 foot high paper mache Jimi Hendrix that I,..uh,..made?,..years ago when I worked in a recording studio. If I can find the picture of it, I'll do a vlog. It was a classic example of how stuff sometimes makes itself,...with our help. ,..and hey Suz,..you see all those songs floating around up there?,..grab one and drag it down so we can hear it.

Comment by SydTheSkeptic on August 17, 2009 at 8:12pm

Kevin- I think Hol and I were having a conversation about this and she pointed out how it's our fingers clickin' away while our mind and our eyes are involved- very different from something like clay or painting where it's a physical act and the artist has a relationship with the materials used for the craft (as I did with the clay). What a great question- what's missing...I guess it's the sheer physicality of it. It somehow feels more natural or more organic and it taps into the child in me...the feeling of "play".

Don't get me wrong, I love video-making and I definitely lose time while doing it but I guess I want to get my hands dirty again. ;o)

Comment by photo2010 on August 17, 2009 at 10:45pm

Syd, I think I get it. For me, it's like the difference when photography went from film-based to digital. There are a lot of good things about digital, but it's kind of like the difference between saying 'hugs' on a computer to giving a hug in person.

Comment by SydTheSkeptic on August 17, 2009 at 11:03pm

Kev- I hear ya on that!

Comment