If Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder, Art is Inspiration in the Thoughts of the Observer.
The wonder and majesty of art comes from its universal ability to provoke a reaction; whether it be scoffing incredulity, reflective self-examination, offended anger or a wondering reverie, art makes us react and we find a reflection of who we are in that reaction.
In search of inspiration I often find myself turning to art, especially when depression rears its ugly head and my mood sinks into the mire. When I'm drained of the will to create and inspired only to emptiness. It’s at these times, that I need an outward reflection of someone else’s muse, a coloured canvas to help populate my thoughts and find wonder in the dying light. It is the act of self-reflection in observing art that forces me to deal with the depressive feelings and walk through the flames, emerging, like the Phoenix, burnt but re-born.
Sometimes, the results can be quite dark but it is in exorcising these demons, this inability to see anything but the negative in life, that I find some surcease. It’s through holding up a mirror, that I finally see that the reflection is skewed and gain some perspective. Everyone is different, but I can’t come to this level of realisation and healing simply through thought or conversation. I wish I could.
It was with this in mind that I took a day-trip to Crosby beach in my hometown of Liverpool. The beach is the permanent home of an art exhibition of epic proportions. As you crest the dunes, rows of figures stretch into the distance, standing forlorn, looking out to sea. Sentinel against the tide, they remind me of the permanence of nature’s advance, like King Canute hailing the tide to halt its progress before bearing witness to its inexorable advance and proclaiming – 'Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but he whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws.' 1
This example holds true in the battle with depression. It is pointless to try and hold back the tides, the only way to get used to the power of these feelings is to work through them and try to remember the lessons you have learned for the next time. With clinical depression, it isn’t a case of getting well, it’s a case of learning the motion of the tides.
‘Another Place’ by Antony Gormely is a sculpture installment which consists of cast iron figures facing out to sea, spread over a 2-mile (3.2 km) stretch of the beach between Waterloo and Blundellsands. Each figure is 189 cm tall (nearly 6 feet 2½ inches) and weighs around 650 kg (over 1400 lb). In common with most of Gormley's work, the figures are cast replicas of his own body. As the tides ebb and flow, the figures are, respectively, revealed and submerged by the sea. 2
The installation encapsulates the essence of its title, transforming this formally innocuous stretch of the Sefton coast into a statement, a reflection of man vs nature. It has a transformative effect in how the figures interact with the flat sand-scape of the Sefton coast. Interpretation of art is very personal, but in my mind, the essence of the 'Gormleys' is that of a yearning for permanence. As the statues break up the sea and sky, this creates a change in perspective.
The statues stare out to the relatively untamed tidal confluence of the Mersey bay and if you look in two directions on Crosby beach, you will be greeted by very different sights. When facing out to sea, if you look left you will see the constructs of Liverpool's dockland; industry imprinted on the landscape in grey towers of concrete leaning over the sands. To the right, the beach stretches endlessly to the horizon, with a smattering of dunes in the distance hailing the wilds' of the nature reserve at Formby. One thing remains in common with these two conflicting views, the metal statues march into the distance and out to sea. It's this expression of humankind's progress, suspended between the industrial and the natural which strikes me most about the installation.
Perspective to Change the Mental Mind-Scape.
Crosby beach as a whole provides a wonderful juxtaposition of perspective and is an amazing place for a photographer to exercise their creativity.
This playing with perspective is a big part of how I use art to help transform my negative mind-scape. Finding these shots is a lot like play. A child will play on their own to learn about the world and with other children to build friendships. None of this is conscious, but it is a skill that some of us lose as adults, an essential tool for effecting change.
This visual play with perspective bridges the gap between whatever is broken in the synaptic bridge that makes associations in my mind. Depression has been with me for over 15 years of my life, I have tried anti-depressants with extremely negative consequences, undertaken CBT and traditional counselling, one thing has remained constant throughout these experiences. Tackling clinical depression is a constant battle to build the distinction between my perception of the world and reality. Constantly reaffirming that distinction through some type of external example is the only mechanism I have found that works.
The programming of the depressive subconscious has been built on layers of skewed perceptions, over many years, often strengthened by negative experiences. Through observation of something external, I find that I gain some perspective and project these ingrained thought patterns outside of myself for a time. This allows for an objective study of these perceptions without holding on to them, without seeing them as a part of me that cannot change.
For example, the picture above and to the right is of a pipeline stretching out into the Mersey bay. On one side, the wash of the tide has covered the sand with a thin layer of water creating a glassy mirror-like quality. On the other side, the sand of the beach has been built higher through the action of the tide mounding sediment against the pipe. You can actually walk down the beach for miles and the tide comes in on the right-hand side of that picture 10-15 minutes later due to the discrepancy in the action of erosion. Baring in mind this pipeline was only installed around 100 years ago. This picture and the effect of observing this anomaly of the tides gives me a powerful metaphor to work with. It's almost like an external reflection of the different perceptions my mind will swing to when depressed or not. Sometimes on a daily basis, which is very hard to deal with and maintain any sort of productive lifestyle. In recognizing this switch, this change in perspective based on external forces, in my case being memories of experiences I went through in adolescence, it is possible for me to flip the switch in my mind from my obsessive rumination ruling me, to me being able to work through them with some separation.
The poem below was written while at Crosby and clearly shows the effects of negative self-talk. Looking at these pictures now, I don't see the Gormley statues in this light. The poem is a clear personification of the internal thoughts and feelings that had taken me over at the time. In therapy, the patient is encouraged to work through feelings to understand them and I find it no different with approaching healing through personal development in a creative way. Cathartic poetry can be just that, and when deeply personal is sometimes best kept in the notebook for personal contemplation, but often the raw emotion can be crafted into something with depth, which is how I feel about this poem. For me, this personification shows how deeply frustrating and mentally draining the constant battle with mental health issues can be. Writing it helped me exorcise those feelings, let go of them and move forward constructively.
by the tides tithe.
Cradled by the lull
Of screeching gulls
Emptied out like shells
only to be drowned.
Periodically renewed,
diminished, swallowed
in sea-spray, swaddled
In rusty mental breakdown.
A calcified expression of conflict
Dreaming of the scrapyard.
A final resting place.
References:
2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Place_(sculpture)
Join us @steemitbloggers Animation By @zord189
Hey @raj808, I am a curator of the Whaleshares Curation Team. I have selected your post to be presented in a live curation discussion on Monday 23rd March. Your post will be awarded a 100 Whaleshares vote on the night. I do hope you can come along and spectate. The event will be held in The Curation Lounge on the Whaleshares server. Here is a link to a post explaining things: https://steemit.com/steemit/@nikflossus/tonight-the-23rd-whaleshares-curation-show-free-whaleshares-for-all-listeners
Thanks @nikflossus. I shall come along to listen to the show and check out the other posts also. Thanks for choosing my post :-)
@raj808 I am completely moved by your deep writing, story telling, courage and photography. I was actually feeling very depressed myself today and was surprised by your post's content mirroring my own feelings today.
Such profound writing @raj808. I wish I could upvote you a thousand times for such a thoughtful and honest post.
I didn't have a great childhood either - some days can be rough. I used poetry to move through a lot of those feelings and I like how you described it as 'cathartic poetry' :) Your poem was quite beautiful though, not cathartic at all....deep and genuine.
Maybe being such a deep and sensitive/creative person predisposes someone to depression. We feel, therefore we are ;) I think a lot of very creative people suffer from this. I think a lot of creative people are empaths, too.
Hi @youhavewings. Thanks so much for your comment and meaningful response to my article and poem. It is hugely satisfying when I know I have really made a connection with someones experience through my writing. You are right in what you say I think, creatives tend to be prone to depression and I think again you have hit the proverbial 'nail on the head' in that part of this is because to be a good creative writer you need to have a certain level of empathetic temperament. I honestly feel that my underlying depressive tendencies are bolstered by feeling other peoples' pain too much. Both in observing the cruelties that our species visit on each other and on a more personal level in feeling for my friends. It's a curse and a blessing as I write fiction as well, and this emotional intelligence is a great resource for building realistic characters. However, it's all worth nothing when you're crippled by brain-fog that comes with depression.
I'm on an upturn at the moment and have started my routine of exercise and yoga which helps me kick the depression out of my head and the creative outlet that steemit provides is also a big drive to thrive 😉
I know what you mean and I have loads of poems, angry, sad and mad as hell which will never see the light of day lol. These are cathartic poems in that they are kind of like exorcising demons of emotion, working through the emotions when they are out of control. This is why I tend not to let anyone see them. To be honest the poem in this article was reasonably measured although sad in its tone etc. I edited it a bit and was hopeful and reasonably sure that it had artistry beyond the emotional aspects. Thanks again for checking out my article I am glad you enjoyed it. I have followed you and will check out some of your poetry 🙂
Yes, I feel others' pain, too. Very much so. I can also feel their joy. :) If you want to read one of my poems, "Girl in the Box" is about this very topic ;) It was a living poem written as I opened that box of cathartic poems and writings. It doesn't flow as smoothly as I'd like, but I didn't have the heart to edit it because it came so organically. The ironic thing is that the Steemit community gave that Girl in the Box her wings and I had named my acct 'you have wings'. It was pretty special how that happened :) Here's the link if you want to read it: https://steemit.com/poetry/@youhavewings/girl-in-a-box-a-living-poem
I look forward to reading more of your posts and am grateful to connect with such a talented human being ;)
Have a wonderful day, @raj808....enjoy your yoga and inspiration.
I checked out your poem @youhavewings and found it to be a really wonderful piece of poetry. I left you a gift in the comments section :-)
Very special gift, @raj808. Very, very special. Thank you.
I SO needed this right now. I'm really struggling to keep my head above water as those around me are really hurting with depression right now. I needed some outside perspective and especially like this:
I am going to try to look at things from an artistic perspective and get out of my own head. Thank you for sharing your wonderful thoughts and experiences with this. It is truly very helpful and just what I needed.
I'm truly glad that it helped with some inspiration for you @byn in maybe finding a new way to try and address those depressive feelings. Definitely try it, find some type of place or work of art etc that expresses something to do with perspective. Or look for these different perspectives in the natural environment and then see if you can draw comparison with how you perceive the object of focus and how you are thinking in your internal mind-scape. Quite often, I find, if I can project these feelings outwards onto something external, then I can study them with a little more separation. Sometimes, it can bring on quite overwhelming emotions but that's where I try and write poetry or prose or anything really to get the reactions out and on paper, again divorcing yourself from them a little bit to try and gain a new perspective. Take care and I hope things improve for you and the people around you x
Thank you. I do use my writing to distance myself from my feelings, issues and pain quite often. I'd not thought about using visual-art as well. I appreciate your support. Thank you.
This is an amazing 'exhibit' - I kept imagining walking up upon them... even one figure with barnacles and rust would be stunning! What more the thought that they are regularly submerged by the tides... I would love to see them all. I found from the link you included that there are 100 of them. Unbelievable. Negative self-talk or not, I love that poem, and how apt with the photographs and layout of this post. Thank you for sharing this. I will definitely look for this if I am ever in Liverpool. Many battle with depression... as you have described, it is knowing the tides and trying to keep one's head above water, time and time again. I wish you well.
Thank you @ackhoo. I'm glad you enjoyed the poem and the accompanying article, if you ever make it to Liverpool hit me up and I'll show you some of the best art places the city has to offer. + a guided tour of the Gormley exhibit. It is quite a sight :-)
The accompanying article too, definitely... I realised I didn't actually mention it! :D Sorry! First of all, I guess I was all excited about the exhibit and secondly, a little overcome by the sadness and darkness of the accompanying mood. It would be grand, IF I ever made it to Liverpool, to have a guided tour of the Gormley exhibit and shown the art places there... Thank you in advance, and for the thought... and offer! :) Have a good evening!!
"Art makes us react and we find a reflection of who we are in that reaction." Powerful words.
I saw your post featured at the Whaleshares Curation Show last night. Congratulations on that! Hearing you read your poem was especially moving. I'm so glad we were able to hear it in your voice. Your description of this installation is inspired and insightful and took me that beach. Thank you for that.
I too have struggled with depression for many years. It was a family thing. Only my sister who lives in denial was spared. ;) I have words of encouragement for you...for the first time, maybe ever, I am seeing more consistent light at the end of that tunnel. It is possible! I wish you all the best and encourage you to find what brings you joy, something I didn't even know I was capable of feeling just a short time ago.
Resteemed, following you and looking forward to seeing more!
Hi @samanthajbarnes thank you for your kind words, re 'the light at the end of the tunnel'. I know this article may seem to express depression as a constant struggle but there have been times in my life where I have been in such a good place that it hasn't been that much of an issue. However, it has always been bubbling under the surface and I think it is an empowering thing to recognize and realize that this might be the case for ever, finding the ways to deal with it.
I have become progressively better at this throughout my life and am making a major lifestyle change at the end of the year which I am pretty sure is going to help me move beyond it even more.
I'm glad you enjoyed the poetry reading on the whaleshares show :-) I love reading poetry out at poetry nights but get very nervious on stage with a microphone. For some reason this doesn't translate on the mic in the chatroom, it felt really comfortable and I enjoyed sharing my words in a more personal way.
Thanks for the resteem and follow, I am following you also and shall be sure to check out some of your blog posts :-)
Finding ways to deal with it are the key. For me, that came by consciously choosing a different thought...something soothing or even distracting. Engaging in something that would take my mind to another place...a better place where I could breathe has been quite an enlightening experience for me. Some days, that time in the "better place" was short but it was something! Gradually, I have found ways to stay there longer. What a gift I have given to myself! Be gentle with yourself as you go. You will learn so much and find that the power within you is far greater than you ever would allow yourself to imagine.
I'm so glad you felt at ease reading your poetry...you seemed to be in the zone. :) Keep up the inspiring work!
so lonely men, hi needs a company! Let's make more art objects next to him!
There are around 99 other statues to keep him company :-)
As a follower of @followforupvotes this post has been randomly selected and upvoted! Enjoy your upvote and have a great day!
Thanks followforupvotes
Upvoted from the curation show!
Thank you @crystalpacheco30 I really appreciate that :-) Glad you enjoyed the post
wow, great place! I wish one day I could see them in reality!
Ha ha. I should try and organise a steemit tour of crosby beach... now just to convince @roelandp @abh12345 to host the next steemfest in Liverpool. Would you visit @prostosun? ;-)
I find your method very constructive and can be used by others for their healing journey. Thank you sharing your insight on this.
Thank you @roselifecoach, yes I was trying to be constructive when I wrote it, even though I was in quite a dark place. Like I was aware that outlining my process might/could help others and that gave me a great deal of passion and drive to make it a good article. The irony is that through the process of this self-reflection and elaborating on it in my writing, I managed to talk myself out of the worst of the depressive feelings. Ha ha, maybe I should write more of these style of articles but I like to focus on poetry/fiction/travel writing mainly. Thanks for checking out my blog :-)
I think it might help others with your writing. No need to fully focus on this but write it once a while, let it flow naturally from your mind.
Oh man Raj I know how good a writer you are indeed and although I don't comment in a lot of your posts especially on poetry but know that I devour your words always.
Sharing what you are going through and the art piece that you used in this post just resonated with me.
The way that these statues seem alone and looking out the sea to an endless horizon.
Writing has been how I have been able to comeback from looking at the endless horizon.
We are here Raj.
Thanks @maverickinvictus. I know you guys are all there for me and I'll hopefully be back more active in promo-mentors soon but unfortunately for me, and I know this isn't the same for most, diving into being busy with work, voluntary or otherwise does not help me at all. This is the only reason why I am keeping some distance from discord at the moment. I need to focus on producing good content, which is why I started on steemit. Hope you are well mate, I know what you're saying
The instillation is kind of lonely in aspect but it is a wistful yearning, like a memory of a departed friend or an old lover. I visited Crosby the other day again and found a great feeling of joy walking along the beach and staring out to sea with the Gormley Statues lol. I guess I felt kinship in a strange way, like I thought that is me at the moment, staring out on my potential journey if I get it together to travel/freelance at the end of the year. It's strange how perspective changes in a matter of days. Thanks for checking out my post Mav and commenting, it means a lot :-)