Art is all around us, and the Daily Writer refers to the transforming effects art has on our lives as sorcery. For me, I often find myself watching youtube videos of inspirational sports moments. Underdogs coming out on top, or game winning buzzer-shots, even compilations of motivational speeches put to clips from sports movies. I get watery eyes sometimes watching sports movies, I'm not ashamed. Being someone who has never really had that "Yes!" moment through my childhood in sports, I feed off of the ones portrayed in movies and acted out in real life. I love sports like boxing and MMA, where it is one person against one person, no teams, just you against the person across the ring. You have a set amount of time to get your work done, and the only person you really have to beat is yourself. I just watched one of my favorites this morning, I'll see if I can embed it here.
So, the effects I feel from this form of art, this compilation of sports clips to 'epic' background music, and a clip of some guy getting the crap beat out of him and somehow coming back and landing a lucky punch to win the fight is 'sorcery'. [I haven't seen the movie most of the clip is from, but I'm familiar with all of the audio included in the clip.] For me, some pictures can evoke the same feelings. The sight of my alma mater's (undergraduate) stadium lit up for a prime time night game is awe-inspiring. Brings me back to the days of camping out on concrete for a week before the game in sub freezing temperatures with rain and naught but a thin tent and a sleeping bag, just to be three feet closer to the field. Then standing in line for 12 hours before the gates open, with no shirt, in the rain, fresh body paint streaking down my numb body. Brings me back to those days, when I knew if my parents had seen me they would have been shaking their head in disbelief.
Call me butter, cause I'm on a roll, but while I'm at it I will add that olfactory (smell) sense is the one scent highest associated with recall of an event or memory. I'm not sure about anyone else, but when I walk into a Yankee Candle store, it's like cruising at 120mph through memory lane. Mmmm Pumpkin Pie scent reminds me of watching my two younger cousins fight during Thanksgiving at Grandma's Community Center, this Berry Blueberry scent reminds me of picking blueberries at my Uncles old house in the mountains, this Peppermint Swirl scent reminds me of that one ex-girlfriend, and this Fresh Linen one makes me think of that first night crawling into bed with freshly washed and tucked sheets. (Photo courtesy of furrytalk.com)Art is all around us, and the interpretations we draw from it, sorcery. So, put away your wizard hats and stop chanting your ancient spell-sage languages, and let's get down to the Doohickey.
Exercise 1: Write a Poem about the Sorcery you Detect in the Everyday World
Ugh, another poem? I hate writing poems. My poems always sound all gimmicky, or childish. I'm also uncomfortable writing poems that don't involve humor. Don't get me wrong, I have some angsty ones from my angsty years in high school, but I strictly write poetry for humor sake nowadays. I'm going to cheat. Again. Maybe someday I'll be comfortable putting one of my poems out there, or more frightening yet, writing a fresh one for one of these daily 'exercises', but for now I'll continue to borrow other peoples work. This one, from what I can find, is actually written by an 8th grade student in 2001. Now that my ego is all bruised, I'll add it is about a Norma Rockwell painting, "The Curiosity Shop", and is titled as such.
When children wonder and question things, That cannot be retorted. They turn to a place where strange contents rest, Where exotic objects are assorted.
All you need is a simple question,
And a dash of imagination on top.
Anything you want can be in your reach,
And it's called the Curiosity Shop.One man's trash is another man's treasure,
That's the motto in this buisness.
Untensils, inventions, and gadgets galore,
Bought by the rich and even the poor.Each treasure that ever exists in the store,
May have it's own special history.
Portraits of presidents and dolls made of porcelain,
Every crack and defect a mystery.Young children escape to another world,
As they play with trinkets unassertive.
Adults look on and remember once,
That they too were once as inquisitive.So when children are looking for an explanation,
Or dress up or spin a top.
they can skip on down,
To a world of discovery,
It's called the Curiosity Shop.
I like that this poem touches on that art of imagination, or 'sorcery'. I suppose we could view the 'sorcery' as how a person receives art. One sculpture, one speech, one novel, one painting, will all evoke different responses from different people. I personally know someone who owns their own perfume company, and she considers perfumes and oil diffusers to be art forms as well. Considering the duly noted importance of the olfactory sense in memory recall, I have to concur. We all react to art differently, so therein lies the sorcery, or magical property of art.
I leave you with this quote from Marcel Duchamp, a French artist. I liked the quote in the picture, as well as an additional quote I found on his wikipedia page. I feel this second quote speaks to the 'sorcery' component I have struggled to describe this morning. He says, "The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work into contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the act." So, perhaps the sorcery is just the way we receive art, when we let down our barriers and let ourselves immerse in an open window to someone else's world, or take that window for our own world and see if it changes how we are looking at things. So, let a little sorcery into your life. I promise I won't track you down on a witch-hunt.
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