Art and power

by Robert Genn

In the jungle mores of high school, the choosing of teams was  my frequent mortification. Standing in a line-up, one by one the stronger, dominant males would be picked--until it was down to just me and my pal Maynard.

Sometimes Maynard would be last, at other times the honour would fall to me.

There would be a distinct groan when my team realized that the luck of the draw had once more blessed them with my inadequacies.

Except for this ritual denigration, I have to say that I actually enjoyed soccer. But not only did I never, ever score, I seldom got the ball. What a klutz. What a liability.

Up in the art room it was another story.

Here I thrived. Between the school annuals, murals, posters and interschool competitions, I was the titular Michelangelo, in demand and respected.

Even our principal, Mr. Forster, stood like a pope in stunned awe as I crawled among my high scaffoldings. The need for power may be at the root of some creative lives.  

Many artists have told me art gives them a purchase on the  universe and their reason for being. Like me, in childhood they  often found themselves unable to compete in more socially  acceptable ways.

Art gave them a place to be. And just as art-power is discovered and developed in youth, it can be lost or discarded in later life.

Some see a conspiracy against themselves--parents, teachers, spouses, peers, rivals. Whatever the reason, the power and the glory wander away and are lost. 

Julia Cameron, who has an excellent understanding of this  dialectic, states: "When we are angry or depressed in our  creativity, we have misplaced our power. We have allowed  someone else to determine our worth, and then we are angry at  being undervalued." 

With a philosophical attitude, a great deal of latent anger can  be neutralized. A better illusion is imagined and put into force to replace a poorer one.

Leopards can change their spots--and they can change them again and again.

The good news is that the success ratio for creative people is high because we are already in the business of illusion.

Psychotherapist Anthony de Mello puts the responsibility squarely where it belongs: "It's an illusion that external events have the power to hurt you, that other people have the power to hurt you. They don't. It's you who gives this power to them."  

Best regards, 
Robert  

PS: "Painting isn't a question of sensibility; it's a matter of  seizing the power, taking over from nature, not expecting her  to supply you with information and good advice." (Pablo  Picasso)  

Esoterica: At the same time, power-centricity can be a  personality disorder as dangerous as substance abuse. It's  often the result of a legacy of real or perceived personal invalidation.

To some degree this disorder can be overturned by the active production of art. The antisocial power-over-others  is supplanted by power over art materials--a harmless  sublimation with potential benefits.

Like the twelve-step program in AA, mastering power-centricity takes a steady application of character and self-education.

"Knowing others is  intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power." (Lao-Tzu)  

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(c) Copyright 2006 Robert Genn rgenn@saraphina.com 

From The Robert Genn Twice-Weekly Letter

> his book: The Painter's Keys : A Seminar With Robert Genn

>related books:

Julia Cameron.  The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity

Anthony De Mello: Writings

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