TAKEN from an article by Terri Windling on the art of Stu Jenks: “Circles, Sprials and Stu,” as it appears on the Endicott Studios website:
Art historian John Berger, in a recent essay (”Steps Toward a Small Theory of the Visible”) comments: “The modern illusion concerning painting (which postmodernism has done nothing to correct) is that the artist is a creator. Rather [s/he] is a receiver. What seems like creation is the act of giving form to what [s/he] has received.”
This observation seems to apply equally to all “artists,” not only painters. It certainly echoes my own personal experience when it comes to improvisation…especially in the jazz idiom. When improvising, you are playing what you “hear”. We were always counseled to do this, to “play what you hear.” That was used as a benchmark for your artistic development. The more you listen, the more you could “hear” and then, the more you could play. Examine all the language; its primarily passive. You are first listening (receiving) before you are playing (creating or transmitting).
The greatest heights of creativity come from this “actively passive” stance.
