Art as the highest form of Hope

Welcome to the Hope Podcast!
I’m Uni. 

In today's episode, we will be exploring a theme close to our hearts: art as a transformative force, a powerful antidote to our fast-paced, technology and content driven world. 

Rather than kicking it off with a quote today, I am feeling in the vibe for a definition instead. Personally not particularly found of labels or definitions, but it works well to set the stage for a discussion about the transformative nature of art. There are various definitions and debates out there, on what constitutes art, but who cares - the importance is the hope art can give to the world.

So let us dive into the first statement of today. Could art be seen as a creative expression of the human experience itself? To the point that living is a work of art? 

In a world overflowing with content, constant red alerts, busy busyness. Could the old fashioned way of art be our antidote? Art against despair?Something real, something human-made. Bringing us back to our core, serving as a constructive coping mechanism, and reminding us of what it means to be human. 

As we are all trying to navigate this wild content changing world. It is more than ever essential to stay grounded and connected to our humanity. Art allows us to do so, express our feelings, tell our stories, and reflect on our shared experiences. It creates a space for vulnerability, for rawness, for dreams, for hopefulness. Each unique thread, woven perfectly together at large.

Nathan Sawaya beautifully captures this sentiment:

Art makes better humans, art is necessary in understanding the world, and art makes people happy." "Undeniably, art is not optional. 

I think this quote highlights the importance of asking what I call the big w`s. Who are we?
Why are we here?
Who are out there?
What are the meaning of life?
And using art as the medium, and the truth as our compass.
I don't think there is a more fun journey to be on, than the one, looking for the truth. 

And on the note of having fun, it brings me to another quote from Kurt Vonnegut:

Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.

But what should I create? It does not matter what you create, it matters that you do create. Everything in this world is a piece of art, a piece of beauty, and you are that too.
What if you just feel like painting a straight line on a piece of paper? It is still art, and you the artist have created it.

The quote also invites us to give art our full awareness, and enjoying the delicate process of crafting. Rather than merely thinking about its outcome, what money or status it can bring to us.
Practicing letting go of the desires, any wantingness to control - just crafting in the here and now.

Did you know that if you try to paint or draw with your eyes closed, you are only working with your right brain? What Ian McGilchrist call the master. And do you want me to tell you a secret? The master has infinite creative potential. Yep, that's right. 

But back to defining the undefinable.
To me art is timeless, it transcends both time and space. Its kinda like, and bear with me on this one. Art is a bit like a wormhole, linking us to different eras and cultures in the matter of seconds. 

Taking Leonardo da Vinci for example, whose work we are still trying to figure out. All these hidden clues and deeper meaning he created as beacons to light our way.
Instead of trying to describe more of the beauty and complexity of Leonardo, I will let another artist speak:

Art is the lie that reveals the truth. By Pablo Picasso. 

Okay, I will try to go with one last attribute to our definition of art.
Art is universal. To support this statement, I would like to bring in a quote from our dnote section. I may be inviting in a new topic for discussion right now, but to me faith and art has gone hand in hand across time - so why not continue? Both are works of art in my opinion.

So here it goes: You don’t need to be a Christian to love the representation of the spirit inside a church, nor a Buddhist to feel its presence inside a temple. You don’t even need to be a scientist, to marvel at the dark energy within our universe.
Art is universal. And faith might be, more universal than you think too.

I think we can all acknowledge the transformative power of art. It is like they said in the last episode of the rings of power. It is not strength that will help us win, it is light. And to me light and art are interchangeable. 

And we must never forget who we are, we are the artists.
Each and one of us possesses the ability to create our own reality, with nothing more than our own imagination serving as limits.

As Albert Einstein once said:

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.

Imagination is key. But not just imagination. Our thoughts, our dreams, our emotions all contribute to the broader narrative of humanity. 

So why do we need art now more than ever? Because it is the right thing to do right now, as Ryan Holiday would say. But also because we could use a lot more green vs red alerts, hopeful news, inspiring innovations and beautiful songs about our world. 

And if anyone would be asking what I think about the world we live in? I would say we are living in one beautiful world. 

But what do we need in order for everyone to see all the beauty in this world?
We need dreamers;
We need entrepreneurs;
We need artists creating future dream notes.
We need shared dreaming. 

So where should we start? As Ben Hunt beautifully puts it:

Let's make a community of those who see with clear eyes and love with full hearts.

Let us be looking for the helpers. 

Before closing the art loop for this time, I would like to make three personal recommendations. If you are interested in getting more into the creative zone, my number one go to is a small creative notebook you can fit in your back pocket - to take notes everytime you get a blissful moment. Some artists also love the 5 minutes morning pages, raw writing - anything that comes to mind.
The next one I already spoiled, the rings of power series - season 1 and 2. And the last one who have inspired my own creative act, is the book the creative act by Rick Rubin. Amazing thoughts on life and art. 

Okay, I think that is enough art talk from me today.
I will let the last note be from our hope intro song:
Now I am become Birth, the constructor of worlds.

Let us go out and be the constructors!

Thank you for listening to the hope podcast.
Stay tuned if you want to check out our latest song
Beauty will save the world.
Love bye bye.  

If you want to check out more of our songs: Mobil.Ai Youtube Channel