Yesterday I was very fortunate to visit an immersive exhibit of Vincent Van Gogh’s art. Being already a big Van Gogh fan, and so therefore knowing something of his history and work, mostly I was curious about how anyone could compress the infinite experience of “Van Gogh” into limited time and space. For Van Gogh is not just bigger than life because he became famous, and he did not become famous simply at the whim of some influential art dealer who could persuade his clients to open their wallets.
In actual fact, Van Gogh despaired that anyone would see or appreciate what he was trying to say to the world, and he died poor and believing that no one ever would. What was he trying to say to you and I? For my part, I see a message that life is big, precious, beautiful, and yes, sometimes tragic, but when we see the challenges and despair of others, we develop compassion, we become a more integral part of humanity.
Part of the exhibit was a 1/2-hour movie display of his works in an immense room, as his paintings undulated and merged in and out, coming to life as they projected onto all four walls, the color and life also spilling down and outward onto the floor and the viewers. The objective was clearly to bring the viewers inside the art, so that they could perhaps more easily feel it and become part of it. I wondered as I watched the delighted viewers, no doubt some of them experiencing Van Gogh for the first time, what they were feeling? If I could come up with one word that would encapsulate the experience, what might that be?
The word CREATIVITY came to mind. Creativity is the very essence of who we are as humans, and we may not be able to quite put it into words, but we FEEL it. Deep down we know it as a certain truth. We ARE creative, part of a mysterious creative force, and endowed with our own creative power through our minds and hearts to manifest a better (but not yet imagined) world. There is great joy in feeling the power of that, and it showed on the faces of the viewers.
Here’s the other part of that thought. Is it possible that Van Gogh’s immersive exhibits are so hugely popular right now because we know at a deep level, but not yet fully admitting it to ourselves, that there is a force at work of late that is trying to destroy our creative power? Van Gogh’s work is not just simply an antidote in troubled times, but rather it is a view of what is possible, our POTENTIAL.
I would say that is true, but it is for you to decide. I see the juxtaposition of the world they want for us, the ones who make the rules and use coercion and force to “create it”. They project a cold future of transhumanism, where we will have completely lost the warmth, love, connectedness, and most importantly the full creative potential of who we are. They are trying to convince us that we are defective, when nothing could be farther from the truth.
So my final question to you is this: What kind of world do you want to see in your future, and for the future of all children who will inherit this planet? For my part, I’m on the side of Van Gogh.
Quotes attributed to Vincent Van Gogh from his letters, etc:
“Art is to console those who are broken by life.”
“I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say 'he feels deeply, he feels tenderly'.”
“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tide,s and in its depths it has its pearls too.”
“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.”
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”
“A great fire burns within me, but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passers-by only see a wisp of smoke.”
“What am I in the eyes of most people — a nonentity, an eccentric, or an unpleasant person — somebody who has no position in society and will never have; in short, the lowest of the low. All right, then — even if that were absolutely true, then I should one day like to show by my work what such an eccentric, such a nobody, has in his heart. That is my ambition, based less on resentment than on love in spite of everything, based more on a feeling of serenity than on passion. Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. And my mind is driven towards these things with an irresistible momentum.”
“I wish they would take me as I am.”
© SL Hart 2022
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