"Why Do We Need An Escape?" or "Why Do We... Art?"

[Seil]

Well, first, let me get the "God forbid anyone watches movies for the entertainment value!" sentence out of the way.

Okay, I put it in a box under my bed. I could pull it out again (and I probably will) but first I want to ask a question about movies. Well, movies and books and games and art. I don't know everyone on Earth yet, so I can't speak for anyone - least of all myself. But I think that some people partake in the arts as a form of escape. Is it because of family issues, or traumatic situations, or because we're in need of a guiding figure? Or do we like to project ourselves as the hero? I remember watching John Cleese talk about James Bond, that he and his friends would come out of the cinema "walking a little straighter, talking a little more suave."

Is that more a case of escapism or want? I was watching the trailer for Blue Valentine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oiY7W7nDeE&ob=av3e), what where Ryan Gosling was silly with a lady friend, and I thought that was something I wanted to do, someone I wanted to be. God forbid I watch the trailer for the entertainment value. (See? Took it out of its box.)

People write or draw or direct or sing because they have a story to tell, they have an idea that they want to share. Why do we do that? What compels us to create, and then submit? Do we believe our idea to be worth something? Is it a need for acceptance and praise? I realize that this is all very disjointed and rambly - but that's what I do. I think it boils down to this:

For some reason, we're creative, and focus the energy, the ideas we have into art, music, poetry or film or whatever. Why do we feel, or did we first feel the need to share it? Why are the works interpreted differently be different people? Why can something as simple as watching another man die, a woman smile, a chord or riff or couplet cause so much emotion in a person? Could we classify our art as a part of the spirit?

EDIT I've brought this up before, I think (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zRSvuGbL2L0/TGvDFwKzFLI/AAAAAAAAAsc/7zHVYHZxe98/s1600/Calvin+and+Hobbes+4-19-92.jpg).

[Amake]

I write to feel less alone.

[Shyria Dracnoir]

We're smart enough to conceptualize about worlds that don't exist in this reality yet not quite smart enough that the real world automatically and always makes sense. I think that artistic expression is a method of trying to reconcile our feelings about this disconnect; in our imaginary worlds we can discuss problematic issues and come up with ways to resolve them that are more emotionally satisfying than the real world can provide. This helps us make sense of an often seemingly senseless existence and thus maybe keep us saner in the long run.

[The Sevenshot Kid]

I remember starting a thread like this a while back but focused on writing. I like the idea of this thread since the subject is a little more broad than mine was.

I write because I like to get my ideas out and try to make them work. A good concept is worthless if you can't hammer it out until it's good. And it's great to find out that people think you've done it well enough to have not wasted their time reading it. There's nothing I hate more than having someone say that my material was forgettable or bland.

We like recognition for our efforts and art is just another way of trying to express ourselves.

Edit:
I write to feel less alone.

Hey, could you post a bit more in the art thread? I liked that one story you posted and I would like to see more from you.

[Toast]

"Writing is a form of personal freedom. It frees us from the mass identity we see in the making all around us. In the end, writers will write not to be outlaw heroes of some underculture but mainly to save themselves, to survive as individuals.” ~ Don Delillo

I really love this quote. There are probably a lot of different answers to the questions posed. Human beings need meaning in order to stay physically and mentally healthy. Don't ask me why. The universe is basically meaningless, so we have no recourse but to create our own meaning. That's it in a very general sense.

More specifically, the creation of fiction is a purposeful act. I wouldn't say it's always about having a sense of order and control, as I don't think that's always the case. Rather, it's about certainty. The real world is full of uncertainties--what death means probably being the most prominent. There's also life, meaning, freedom, and responsibility--the big existential movers. Creative fiction is a way to address those kinds of questions, mostly for ourselves, but also for the audience.

We live our life and have a continuity of consciousness, a stream of experiences. It's referred to as a personal narrative because we organize it in a story-like format. All of our important and meaningful experiences go into the narrative. There are theories out there that posit that because of the personal narrative, we structure the majority of our fiction in the form of narratives.

People experience meaning through other people, through their work, through their religion/spirituality, and through their fictional media. I would posit that fictional media can have just as profound an effect on a person's values and beliefs as their religion/spirituality does.

For me personally, I write because it is as much a part of who I am as my introverted personality type is. I have, in the past, gone an entire year without writing anything. During that time I still was constantly coming up with ideas and storylines, even if I never wrote them down.

The process of creativity is the important thing for me. In one sense, I wouldn't care if I never got published in any form because I'm creating for myself more than anything. At the same time, intellectually I know that's bullocks because without an exchange of ideas, there's only meaning for me. Creative fiction is as much a collaboration between the creator and the audience as it is just a work by the creator.

[Amake]

Hey, could you post a bit more in the art thread? I liked that one story you posted and I would like to see more from you. I do post pretty much everything I do there, it's just not very much. And most of it is pretty far from the front page by now. But look around and you'll probably find something. :)

[Azisien]

This world sucks, I will make my own!

[pochercoaster]

Quote from Anais Nin:

"The artist is the only one who knows that the world is a subjective creation, that there is a choice to be made, a selection of elements. It is a materialization, an incarnation of his inner world. Then he hopes to attract others into it. He hopes to impose his particular vision and share it with others. And when the second stage is not reached, the brave artist continues nevertheless. The few moments of communion with the world are worth the pain, for it is a world for others, an inheritance for others, a gift to others, in the end. When you make a world tolerable for yourself, you make a world tolerable for others.

We also write to heighten our own awareness of life. We write to lure and enchant and console others. We write to serenade our lovers. We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection. We write, like Proust, to render all of it eternal, and to persuade ourselves that it is eternal. We write to be able to transcend our life, to reach beyond it. We write to teach ourselves to speak with others, to record the journey into the labyrinth. We write to expand our world when we feel strangled, or constricted, or lonely. We write as the birds sing, as the primitives dance their rituals. If you do not breathe through writing, if you do not cry out in writing, or sing in writing, then don't write, because our culture has no use for it. When I don't write, I feel my world shrinking. I feel I am in a prison. I feel I lose my fire and my color. It should be a necessity, as the sea needs to heave, and I call it breathing."

[TDK]

People are creative because we'd hardly be able to make use of our tool-making talents (which allow us to be the dominant species on the planet) if we didn't have the drive to create.

Of course, due to our ability for abstraction, this drive to create didn't focus purely upon creating tools and such. Hence art.

[Bobbey]

I write, but it's mostly chords and notes, and rarely with words (I've only arranged one ''song'' in the past).

I play music because, well, music is a hella lot of fun (but not all the time, because practicing alone can be a bitch, and sometimes rehearsals with others may go bad) and I can't get away from it; it has become part of my personality. But also, in a way, it has also become somewhat of a chore, especially in the last years, so, I decided to start beadspriting/painting/cross-stiching/sculpting/crocheting as some sort of escape from music (if I knew how to dance, I'd probably dance as well, but I SUCK at dancing, seriously). But in the end, I do all of this, including music, because it just makes me feel good and I'm always amazed at what I can produce with my mind, hands and fingers.

[BloodyMage]

Whenever anyone asks this question I'm always reminded of an essay by George Orwell about why he writes wherein he commented that anyone who writes must be driven by some amount of pride and conviction that people need to hear what they're saying. I think in my writing I've always connected with that statement. I create because I think I have some worth putting down in words, whether that value is rooted in interest or importance varies, but I submit because I think others should experience my idea. Again, whether their experience is rooted in a desire to entertain or educate varies, but there's a certain amount of selfish confidence evident in putting something out there and suggesting people read it because what you're really saying is that 'I've written something good enough for you spare time and energy on.' Of course, personal opinion doesn't always agree with that statement but that seems like the underlying desire when you put something forward to be watched, read or viewed.

As for escapism, I'd say it really must depend on the occasion. If your home live is particularly crappy perhaps good family films and comedies might allow you to escape or distract you from your worries. Stress might also be alleviated by a drama or action film because you'd escape into people who have more difficult stress-inducing situations, or be distracted by the explosions and such. However, I don't think that we want to be entertained merely as a means to escape. I think we also aspire to the characters or to the world sometimes, not necessarily because our world is so bad but because theirs is so good. Sometimes it might actually just be as simple as wanting to hear what the creator has to say, or whether it is actually worth it. Escapism seems to be one of many factors in why we desire strongly to be entertained by others.

[Magus]

I write out of a desire to express how awesome shit would be if I were Priest King of the Realm. Observe:

“This is what it takes to sit the Black Throne! Endless cruelty! Limitless malice! And enough ambition to drown the world! So to the slave mines with thee!” cried King Grant, slashing down with the cat-of-nine-tails across the face of the young boy, gouging great runnels of gore into his face. The boy screamed in agony and collapsed sobbing as the guards dragged him away.

Grant cast the whip aside and sat upon the ebon chair at the height of the stairs, crossing one leg over the other and setting his blood-red iron crown at a rakish angle. “Now, bring forth mine harem!" he cried with a sonorous voice, clapping his hands together.

The guards quickly ushered in a bevy of scantily-clad, voluptuous young women. "No, not that one, you fools! The other one!”

Also I find writing satire about fantasy to be easier than actually writing fantasy, though I try to do that, too.

[Seil]

Question: why do we make something that makes us feel sad?

[Shyria Dracnoir]

Catharisis. We need to confront our fears and sadness in a readily-accessible form so that we can come to terms with them.

[CelesJessa]

People write or draw or direct or sing because they have a story to tell, they have an idea that they want to share. Why do we do that? What compels us to create, and then submit?

It's a compulsion. Or it can be! If I go some time without making art or being creative in one way or another I get anxious.

Also because it's fun.

[Kyanbu The Legend]

For me it's emotion and expression. Drawing and righting is the only way I feel comfortable enough to expression my emotions and feelings. It's also my way of dealing with sexual frustration. Hints the recent sudden increase in PG-13-ish artwork from me as of lately.