What does that even mean, to be inspired? Where does it come from, and how does it manifest?
“The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.”
What does that even mean, to be inspired? Where does it come from, and how does it manifest? I talk not of the diluted, curated inspiration overflowing on our social media feeds, but of the real thing, the essence of something urging artists to get off their behinds and create. If you’re an artist, you have more than likely also suffered from being uninspired- the lack of desire to create and as you can see, this month's edition is a lot later than I would’ve liked, and I must apologise, as I waited too long for a strike of inspiration mobilising me to my desk.
The main question that I kept grappling with, time and time again, was simple: Does life inspire art, or does art inspire life? For the longest period in human history, I believe that the order was clear, as you lived and created through your art a reflection of that life. Art came after, as a result, and today I confess, I’m no longer convinced that’s the truth.
Quietly, yet surely, the rate of consumption of art amongst our generation has predetermined the type of art we make. Instead of living and reflecting on our own life, we have become voyeuristic as a species, experiencing life by watching each other. At some point, we started living through the art in front of us, and our approach to life began to match that inspiration of art. Now here lies the question: Aren’t all humans inspired by existing art to create new art, and is there such a thing as too much art?
This month, the Brief uncovers the novel problem with inspiration which centuries of artists never had to face. Too much Inspiration.
As kids, all of us begin life as somewhat of a blank canvas. Every experience we make begins to leave a mark, from the Michael Jackson CDs echoing throughout the living room, the shape of the roots underneath the Banyan tree at school, or even a small remark you heard your uncle make that one time. With time, without actively choosing the moments we acknowledge,e the knowledge we appreciate, we begin to create a filter which records all that goes through. All the experiences in our life. Each experience, a small piece in the resulting mosaic of our personal taste.
Now back to the question I raised earlier: the problem is never that we lack inspiration of any kind, but the fact that today, we have far too much of it. The sheer volume of inspiration present is far more than any single person could filter through a lifetime, and it arrives to distract in the blink of an eye.
