Wokół źródeł twórczości

Abstract

Besides social, historical and ideological references, art also possesses an important individual dimension. It is the artist who either happy or ailing, either famous or forgotten, finally shapes his/her creation. Art may be an intimate experience of the artist who shows his/her admiration for the world and its beauty, or on the contrary, in despair gives his/her own hurt and suffering a universal value. Two extremes are occupied by samples of national, historical and military art, at one extreme, and output of artists - poets for which privacy is more important than a passing pathos of collective experience, at the other. Moreover, a piece of art is influenced by its creator’s life, his/her psychology, personality, temperament and even appearance. The artist’s existence is also partially composed of specific fascinations and artistic inspiration, particular works of art and attitudes of their authors. A sequence of changes in art over centuries takes on the form of ordered implications, frequently recursive and with references to our ancestors. The influence of masters on disciples, and workshops and schools on artists has always been a significant factor which determined art and a way to suggest iconographic, formal or technological solutions. Nowadays, we are aware of the whole cultural heritage thanks to the mass media, publications and reproductions. They form our “museum of imagination”. Conscious of the continuity of art we keep looking for inspiration in the past. Conventions and artistic preferences change, making us doubt about art’s progressive and linear character. Sometimes we notice cyclic occurrence of certain tendencies in creation and perception of art, in the area of the dominance of the rational or sensual factors. Complexity of the process of creation and different directions of creative inspiration additionally complicate the attempts at unambiguous comprehension of sources of artistic creation. Finally, time is the verifying factor, and what is considered a lively artistic phenomenon in a certain period, depends not only on artistry, but also on historical circumstances, or even sophisticated theoretical and professional speculation. Optimistically, we should believe that true and permanent art is created always in between the trend of theory and commerce, at the meeting point of life, reflection, and emotion or play.