I am feeling the growing pains of exploration in the studio lately, which has led me to wonder: what steers the work we make in specific directions, and in turn puts our individual stamp on it?
Last week I read Moonwalking With Einstein ~ The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer. I picked it up off the library shelf because I was curious about how the author trained his mind to ultimately win the US Memory Championship, developing the ability to accomplish such feats as memorizing the order of an entire deck of cards in a record 1 minute and forty seconds. I figured I ought to be able to pick up at least a few helpful tips to get me through the day more efficiently.
Porch Chairs ©2015 Elizabeth Fram
But, beyond disclosing the intricate techniques of the world’s top “mental athletes”, the meat of this fascinating book is Foer’s narrative regarding memory itself, including both cutting-edge research and, as stated on the book flap, “a surprising cultural history of memory”.
Concerning creativity, he drills home the point that everything we see and do is viewed through the lens of memory, which ultimately shapes our perspective of the world around us. Of course that means it also flavors the art that we make. We may believe that a wonderful new line of thinking in approaching our work just “popped into our heads”, but it isn’t truly materializing from thin air. We have a lifetime of experiences to thank for any new path.
Bowls on Counter ©2015 Elizabeth Fram
Think about what Foer writes: “The Latin root inventio is the basis of two words in our modern English vocabulary: inventory and invention. And to a mind trained in the art of memory, those two ideas were closely linked. Invention was a product of inventorying. Where do new ideas come from if not some alchemical blending of old ideas? In order to invent, one first needed a proper inventory, a bank of existing ideas to draw on”. In other words, consciously or unconsciously, we pull from our memories in order to fuse new connections between old ideas, solidifying those new concepts in the work we make.
Foer further states, “How we perceive the world and how we act in it are products of how and what we remember. We’re all just a bundle of habits shaped by our memories. And to the extent that we control our lives, we do so by gradually altering those habits, which is to say the networks of our memory.”
Lola ©2015 Elizabeth Fram
It adds a whole new depth to any piece of art you make or view, don’t you think?
Nice post! I have read that memories change every time you bring them forth, depending on how you’re feeling at the time. So it makes sense you can alter them deliberately to reflect how you want to feel about them going forward. I’m going to have to find that book! (Beautiful sketches, too, btw. Thanks for those.)
Thanks Marie — it is such an interesting book on so many levels! I hope you like it. BTW, I have been enjoying the different interpretations you have been placing on the waves through color – and the accompanying stories.
“How we perceive the world and how we act in it are products of how and what we remember.”
Yet another great reason to have kids be in their world with art of all kinds! And what damage we do, of course, to children—and the adults with memories we all become—by not making their lives all they can be. I remember a good friend, then 89, seeing a young child skipping alongside her mother. My friend said “That is the natural state of humans.”
The sketches are beautiful. I love the points of view, the angles and the simplicity of the shadows. Makes me think I need to branch out with my camera and see what I can see! Thanks.
What a wonderful point John. So glad you like the sketches and doubly grateful that you picked up on exactly what I was thinking about while drawing.