The Mystery of Art: Craftsmanship, Image Bearing and the Brain

Yesterday, in response to a conversation with a younger artist friend, I recorded a reel regarding the idea of art being a mystery, or inspiration being a mystery, I called that “BS”.  Then, last night, YouTube showed me this video, inferring that “Yesterday” was written by a demon. I will say that I have never seen anything else by this guy, nor do I know anything about End Times Productions, but he seemed to be saying all art was demonically inspired, and I equally disagree with that.  

This might seem magical, but I believe it to be relatively simple, at least in practice.  

Image Bearers

God created.  God is an artist.  Human beings are made in the image of God.  Image is more than “looks”.  God heals, doctors heal.  God disciplines, fathers discipline.  I create because I am made in the image of the Creator.  Me creating is a reflection of God’s creating, and should point back to him.  

The Creative Brain

I’m not a neuroscientist, but I am fascinated about how creative brains work, especially musicians.  I like watching things like the YouTube channel, The Psychology of Rock.  I found her through the video she posted on the brains of multi-instrumentalists.  I experience something, and my brain works like a pinball machine - it bounces around, seemingly unrelated topics or memories, and makes connections where there doesn’t seem to be any. This isn’t magic, it’s how my brain works.  Just because I don’t fully understand it doesn’t mean it’s not able to be understood.  Some of us are more inclined to imagine what could exist vs. what does exist, but some people are more inclined to be teachers and doctors and some are more inclined to be artists and architects.  

It’s a Craft

Art can be learned.  It doesn’t make you Bob Dylan or Picasso, but pretty much everyone can write songs or paint.  When people say I have a “God-given gift”, I agree but I also find it insulting because it implies it’s easy for me and it’s not.  God gifted me with a love of music that transcends my pride.  I’m not a good piano player, but I still love playing piano.  As it happens, because I love playing and I don’t get frustrated by my limitations, as time goes on, I become a better piano player.  I study writers, architects, designers, filmmakers, photographers and others in addition to musicians.  One, I love all kinds of art, and two, we’re all artists even if our mediums are different.  I love Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, Eero Saarinen, Charles Eames, David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick, Edward Hopper and Hedi Slimane all the same.  Whether through formal education, or on their own, they all studied and worked at their craft.  They didn’t come out of the womb as artists and neither did I.  

The Language We Use

One drum that this End Times Production video kept beating was about language.  He talked about the origins of the words “muse” and “genius”.  Unless talking about bands that play too many notes, I never use the word “muse”, but I use the word “genius” within the boundaries of the common vernacular.  A quote I often refer to is Edison saying, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.”  I use the word in that context.  When I say David Lynch was an artistic genius, it wasn’t magical, it was something he worked toward.  All I mean when I say that is that he achieved a level of artistic greatness that very few have attained.  He’s a notch above most other filmmakers, that’s it.  Nothing more.

Now, That Having Been Said…

Does this mean there’s no demonic influence on art?  No, of course not.  If Kate Bush, or Jimmy Page or whomever tell you they practice magic or did an incantation, believe them.  Just because I believe most people who say “I don’t know how it happens” are practicing media relations, not black magic, doesn’t mean there aren’t some who are.  I just happen to think those artists who appear “safe” on the surface are a bigger risk than the Marilyn Mansons of the world.   

Just Make Art

Inspiration isn’t something that happens to you, it’s something you do.  Want to write music?  Play music.  Want to write stories, write stories.  You have to enjoy the process.  Art is not easy.  It’s hard work.  People think I write a lot of songs, but I write 20x as many songs as people hear, it’s just only 5% of what I write makes it to Spotify.  You train your brain by exercising it.  Being creative makes you more creative.  Being more creative means being creative becomes easier.  It’s no different than anything else.  Larry Bird shot hundreds of free throws every morning, not surprisingly, shooting free throws became easy for him.  

If you want to make art, make it.  If you want to be a songwriter, stop talking about it and write songs.  It’s okay if they suck.  “Yesterday” came to Paul McCartney in a dream.  That’s not magic, that’s the unconscious brain of a guy who thinks about and analyzes music 24/7.  If any song written by Paul McCartney was given to him by a demon, my money is on “Having a Wonderful Christmas Time”, not “Yesterday”.