This paper explores the dynamic between controlled fantasy and spontaneous vision in artistic creation. Fantasy is described as a deliberate act where the artist uses thought as a tool to shape their work, akin to a sculptor with marble. In contrast, vision appears suddenly and without effort, arising from the subconscious mind. This study also considers the role of coincidence in art, which can unexpectedly influence the outcome of creative work. I examine how art connects the conscious mind to the collective unconscious, acting as a bridge between deliberate intention and involuntary inspiration. The discussion highlights the need for a balance between these elements, and, as a next step, going beyond control, proposing that the most impactful art emerges from a blend of careful planning and the unpredictable nature of spontaneity. This paper aims to clarify how artists manage this balance and how it influences their creative expression.
Content
Introduction
Argument
C. G. Jung's Perspective on Planning and Constructing in the Mind
1 Fantasy as controlled creation through the thought act: rational left hemisphere
2 Vision as Spontaneous Insight: irrational right hemisphere
3. The role of coincidence in artistic creation
4. Balancing Control and Spontaneity
Counterpoints
Conclusion
Bibliography
Abstract
This paper explores the dynamic between controlled fantasy and spontaneous vision in artistic creation. Fantasy is described as a deliberate act where the artist uses thought as a tool to shape their work, akin to a sculptor with marble. In contrast, vision appears suddenly and without effort, arising from the subconscious mind. This study also considers the role of coincidence in art, which can unexpectedly influence the outcome of creative work. I examine how art connects the conscious mind to the collective unconscious, acting as a bridge between deliberate intention and involuntary inspiration. The discussion highlights the need for a balance between these elements, and, as a next step, going beyond control, proposing that the most impactful art emerges from a blend of careful planning and the unpredictable nature of spontaneity. This paper aims to clarify how artists manage this balance and how it influences their creative expression.
Introduction
In the mystical confluence where art meets the ineffable, this exploration delves into the nuanced distinctions between controlled fantasy and unbidden visions within the realm of artistic creation. Fantasy is seen as a conscious, deliberate manipulation of thought, akin to a sculptor methodically shaping marble, while vision emerges suddenly, a gift from the subconscious mind that defies conscious explanation. We also consider the role of coincidence, an often overlooked muse, whose spontaneous contributions challenge the boundaries of intention and surrender. I will structure arguments and supporting evidence for each key topic—fantasy, vision, coincidence, and the balance between them in artistic creation. This work is based on my own conclusions and experience as a contemporary artist and as an academy graduate of Fine Arts Academy in Essen, Germany. This journey seeks to unravel how artists navigate this intricate dance, revealing the profound impact of both control and spontaneity on their creative expression.
Argument
Active imagination and spontaneous visions are distinct phenomena, yet they are often mistakenly conflated as products of one's own imagination or fantasy. Coincidence serves as a compelling testament to this assertion, although controlled imagination and uncontrolled vision are intricately intertwined and never entirely distinct. The interplay between chance and deliberate planning is crucial in the creative process of artists. This interplay challenges the notion of ownership in art and prompts us to reconsider the objectives of the contemporary art world.
C. G. Jung's Perspective on Planning and Constructing in the Mind
Jung believed that the conscious mind handles deliberate, rational planning and constructing, essential for navigating daily life and achieving goals. This mental activity is rooted in the ego, the center of consciousness that organizes our thoughts, perceptions, and actions.
However, Jung also emphasized the profound influence of the unconscious on our conscious planning and constructing. He argued that the unconscious mind offers a rich reservoir of ideas, images, and symbols that inspire and shape our conscious thought processes. This interplay is evident in his concept of active imagination, where engaging with unconscious material can lead to new insights and creative solutions.
Jung discussed the relationship between conscious and unconscious processes in several of his works:
"The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves."
Jung reveals that creativity and planning often originate from a deeper, unconscious source, merged with conscious intellect and intention. This perspective suggests that while the ego rationally plans and constructs, it draws inspiration and raw material from the unconscious.
For Jung, the conscious acts of planning and constructing are deeply influenced by the unconscious. The ego organizes and directs these processes, but the content and creativity often emerge from the psyche's deeper layers. This interplay between conscious and unconscious elements enriches the planning process, making it both rational and profoundly creative.
The distinction between the ego's deliberate actions and the subconscious imaginative elements allows for a more nuanced analysis of their roles.
1. Fantasy as controlled creation through the thought act: rational left hemisphere
Fantasy as controlled creation starts with deliberate thought, involving conceptualization, sketching, and meticulous planning. Greek marble sculptures exemplify this, showcasing technical perfection but often lacking the artist's personal touch. The essence of fantasy lies in the inner world where ideas originate. This visualization is a thought process rooted in fantasy, brought to life through controlled, deliberate creation.
1.1. Psychoanalysis and Thought Processes in Conceptualizing Artistic Ideas: Psychoanalysis provides a window into the cognitive processes that shape artistic creation. The conscious ego plays a pivotal role in this process, engaging actively with the imagination to bring forth and refine artistic ideas. This involves a deliberate and thoughtful engagement, where artists consciously select and manipulate symbols and themes, transforming them into their final artistic expressions. By harnessing these conscious cognitive faculties, artists navigate the complex interplay between internal vision and external representation.
1.2. Active Sketching and Experimentation with Materials and Techniques: The transition from concept to creation involves active sketching and experimentation. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci meticulously planned their compositions through extensive sketches and studies, demonstrating significant control and intention. This phase also requires systematic exploration and documentation of techniques and materials.
1.3. Historical Example-Greek Marble Sculptures: Greek marble sculptures epitomize controlled creation through thought acts. These works are not only technical marvels but also products of meticulous planning and idealization. Sculptors aimed to create forms that surpassed natural human proportions, embodying an idealized vision of beauty and perfection. However, while these sculptures achieved technical excellence, they often lacked the distinct personal touch of the artist's individual style. This highlights the dominance of controlled, intellectual creation over spontaneous, expressive artistry.
1.4. Inner Fantasy World as the Root of Ideas: Using the concept of active imagination, artists can visualize objects with remarkable detail and clarity. For instance, imagining a lemon allows one to see its texture, color, shadows, and form in the mind’s eye. This mental exercise is rooted in the ego, where ideas take constructed shape before they are translated into physical form. Despite being an imagined construct, this envisioned lemon is a product of active thought, demonstrating how controlled fantasy guides the creative process and justifies artistic activity.
1.5. The Real vs. Thought Lemon: The imagined lemon, though rooted in mind, acts as a prototype for the real object. While the actual lemon may differ from its mental image, the key is that the imagined version effectively functions within the creative process. This demonstrates how controlled fantasy, born from thought, can guide the creation of tangible art.
By examining these examples, we can understand how fantasy as a controlled creation through thought involves a blend of psychoanalytic theory, meticulous planning, historical examples, and the inner fantasy world that forms the foundation of artistic ideas.
2. Vision as Spontaneous Insight: irrational right hemisphere
Spontaneous vision arises as an idea, a subconscious shock that conjures an image or thought unattainable through active engagement. This phenomenon can occur during the process of painting or even while performing simple chores. Meditation exemplifies this, where the practice of not-doing and silencing the inner dialogue allows for vivid visions and insights. Some artists harness this tool of not-doing in their creations, letting spontaneous visions guide their artistic expression.
Intuition is the foundation of spontaneous visions. Henri Bergson, a French philosopher, challenged the dominant scientific and rationalist approaches to understanding reality. He argued that intuition, rather than rational analysis, provides a more profound and immediate way of comprehending life and consciousness. Bergson believed that rational analysis breaks reality down into static, discrete parts, leading to a fragmented and superficial understanding. In contrast, intuition allows us to grasp reality as a continuous, flowing process, capturing the essence of life in its entirety. For Bergson, intuition is essential for genuine creativity. While rational analysis can only recombine existing elements in new ways, intuition taps into the deeper, creative force of life itself, allowing for the emergence of truly novel ideas and forms.
2.1. Psychological Perspective: Research in psychology, such as studies on the Default Mode Network (DMN) of the brain, reveals that periods of rest or low-focus activities can lead to spontaneous thoughts and insights. This suggests that disengaging from active thought processes allows novel ideas and visions to emerge.
2.2. Artistic Examples: Many artists have experienced moments of spontaneous inspiration. Salvador Dalí, for instance, used the "slumber with a key" method, napping with a heavy key in his hand. As he fell asleep and dropped the key, he would wake up and immediately capture the images that flashed in his mind, thus accessing spontaneous visions from his subconscious.
2.3. Meditative Practices: Techniques like mindfulness or transcendental meditation foster a state of not-doing, leading to vivid mental imagery and insights. Artists such as Agnes Martin have used meditation to tap into spontaneous visions, finding inspiration in the clarity and stillness it provides.
3. The role of coincidence in artistic creation
In my artistic creation, the best ideas often come from spontaneous insights or even dreams. I acknowledge the influence of my surroundings, subconscious programming, and the historicity of my being, which can shape a single vision or create vast inner universes. The distinction between active imagination and visions is never complete and always complements each other. However, I cannot accept the vivid inner world as something we can truly own. The human body and brain are channels and instruments of lived realities, whether controlled or uncontrolled.
Finding concrete support for this statement is challenging, but we can observe it in the simple painting process. No matter how much we conceptualize, sketch, and plan a painting, the creation process always involves mistakes. These mistakes often become profound gateways to unexpected novelties and inventions, precisely because they were “unthought”. Here we observe how an unplanned brushstroke can open up new possibilities. Vision functions like this sudden intuitive play, serving as an additional tool that can be embraced at will and intention.
Many artists have spoken about the significance of mistakes and unplanned events in their work. Pablo Picasso famously said, "I don't seek, I find," highlighting how serendipity and unplanned moments can lead to creative discoveries. Jackson Pollock’s work exemplifies the role of spontaneity in art. His drip painting technique embraced the unpredictable flow of paint, transforming what might have been seen as mistakes into essential components of his innovative style.
Contemporary artists like Gerhard Richter also use controlled chance in their work. Richter's "squeegee" paintings involve applying and then partially removing layers of paint, creating unexpected patterns and textures that become integral to the final piece. These examples illustrate how the interplay between intention and accident can lead to profound and innovative artistic expressions.
4. Balancing Control and Spontaneity
Opposing the approaches of Pollock and Kandinsky, we see how differently controlled and uncontrolled actions are used in the creation process. These complementary parts of imagination are interwoven, creating an intricate game of balancing thought and intuitive action. While balancing control and spontaneity offers a valuable approach to artistic creation, it can be challenging to push beyond the boundaries of control and allow the process to venture into an uncontrolled, innovative realm. C. G. Jung's perspective at this point would be:
"The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable. The creative activity of the imagination frees man from his bondage to the 'nothing but' and raises him to a heightened reality, where the interplay of conscious and unconscious elements is revealed in its totality."
Joan Miró's work often began with controlled sketches and plans but incorporated spontaneous, unconscious elements as he developed his paintings. Miró aimed to free his work from rational thought, allowing subconscious imagery to emerge. “The Farm” is a detailed, controlled depiction of his family's farm in Catalonia, yet it incorporates surreal, spontaneous elements that add a dreamlike quality.
Similarly, Cy Twombly embodies this interplay. His art combines deliberate marks and chaotic, seemingly random scribbles, reflecting a balance between control and abandon. Twombly’s work often explores the tension between order and disorder. In “Leda and the Swan”, he juxtaposes carefully planned gestures with spontaneous, energetic scribbles, creating a dynamic interplay between the controlled and uncontrolled.
David Hockney also exemplifies a blend of detailed planning and spontaneous inspiration. His work often involves meticulous composition, yet he remains open to changes during the creative process. Hockney’s embrace of technology, such as using iPads for painting, reflects this balance. “The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011” combines digital precision with the free, spontaneous expression of nature’s forms and colors.
These artists demonstrate how the interplay of controlled and uncontrolled elements can lead to innovative and dynamic artworks, blending intention with the unpredictable to enrich their creative expressions.
Counterpoints
The notion of spontaneous vision as a pure, unmediated insight is often romanticized, creating a myth around the artistic process. In reality, these sudden bursts of inspiration are deeply rooted in an artist's prior experiences, cultural contexts, and subconscious thoughts.
Cognitive scientist Margaret Boden suggests that creativity, including spontaneous insights, is always grounded in the artist's existing knowledge and experience. This perspective challenges the idea of vision as entirely unplanned, revealing that even our most seemingly spontaneous creations are intertwined with the threads of our past. To move beyond romanticization, we must analyze this phenomenon within a cognitive framework, seeking an analytical basis that considers how memory, perception, and cultural conditioning contribute to what we perceive as spontaneous vision. By doing so, we can ground the concept of inspiration in a more realistic and scientifically informed understanding, appreciating the artist not as a passive vessel of divine inspiration, but as an active participant in a complex interplay of internal and external influences. The question is not whether we are influenced, but how actively we participate in these influences.
The idea that artists cannot truly "own" their creations due to the influence of coincidence and the subconscious challenges traditional views of intellectual property and artistic authorship. This perspective invites us to question the notion of absolute ownership in art, recognizing that creations are often the product of both deliberate intent and unforeseen inspiration.
Legal scholar Lawrence Lessig advocates for the recognition of creative commons and shared cultural heritage, suggesting that the ownership of art should reflect both individual contributions and the collective cultural milieu. By embracing this view, we acknowledge that art is not created in isolation but is a dialogue between the artist and a larger historical and cultural context. Thus, the artist becomes not just a solitary genius but a conduit for broader, communal expressions, redefining ownership in a way that honors the interconnected nature of creativity.
Conclusion
In exploring the intricate dance between controlled fantasy and spontaneous vision, we uncover the profound interplay of control, spontaneity, and coincidence in the artistic process. These elements challenge the traditional boundaries of artistic ownership, suggesting that artists are not mere creators but channels through which art flows. Active imagination, grounded in deliberate thought and meticulous planning, brings to life the inner fantasy world. Meanwhile, spontaneous vision, born from the depths of the subconscious, introduces an unpredictable, innovative element that transcends rational control.
This delicate balance is evident in the practices of artists like Joan Miró, Cy Twombly, and David Hockney, who blend meticulous planning with spontaneous inspiration, allowing for dynamic and transformative artistic expressions. The myth of pure inspiration is deconstructed, revealing that even our most seemingly spontaneous creations are deeply rooted in prior experiences and cultural contexts. By analyzing this phenomenon within a cognitive framework, we appreciate the artist as an active participant in a complex interplay of internal and external influences.
As I look ahead to my dissertation, I plan to delve deeper into the rational and irrational sides of comprehending reality itself. By bringing together the rational processes of the left hemisphere and the intuitive insights of the right hemisphere, I aim to offer a more holistic understanding of the creative process. This journey will not only further unravel the nuances of artistic creation but also challenge and redefine our notions of ownership and originality in art. Through this lens, we can embrace the interconnected nature of creativity, recognizing that art, like life, is a continuous, evolving dialogue between the known and the unknown, the controlled and the spontaneous in their paradoxicality.
Bibliography
Drobot, Ana. "Psychoanalysis and Creativity." Freudfile. Accessed May 17, 2024. http://freudfile.org/psychoanalysis/papers 9.html
Delgado, Luís Manuel Romano. Psychoanalysis and the Act of Artistic Creation: A Look at the Unconscious Dynamics of Creativity. (Delgado, 2023).
Boardman, John. Greek Sculpture: The Classical Period. Thames & Hudson, 1985.
C.G. Jung, The Structure of the Psyche, Collected Works, Vol. 8, para. 371
C. G. Jung, The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious. Princeton University Press, 1980. Raichle, M. E. et al. "A default mode of brain function." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98.2 (2001).
Naifeh, Steven, and Gregory White Smith. Jackson Pollock: An American Saga. Clarkson Potter, 1990.
Elger, Dietmar. Gerhard Richter: A Life in Painting. University of Chicago Press, 2009.
Royal Academy of Arts. "David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture." https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/david-hockney-a-bigger-picture
The Art Story. "Cy Twombly Artist Overview and Analysis." https://www.theartstory.org/artist/twombly-cy
Totally History. "The Farm by Joan Miró - Facts & History of the Painting." https://totallyhistory.com/the-farm/
Boden, M. A. (2004). The Creative Mind: Myths and Mechanisms. Routledge.
Lessig, L. (2004). Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. Penguin Press.
Bergson, H. (1911). Creative Evolution. Henry Holt and Company.
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- Citation du texte
- Narmin Khalilova (Auteur), 2024, Fantasy and Vision in Art. The Dynamics of Control, Coincidence, and the Subconscious, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1487275
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