The Artistic Moment That Changed Your Life?
Was there a moment in your youth, or perhaps later in your life, where you encountered art- at a museum, a concert, a movie theater, in a classroom, on the subway, in beautiful nature- that changed your life by making you want to be an artist, or changed your artistic perspective forever? What happened, what was the story, and how do you feel about it now when you look back at it?
For me I think that the first of those moments was when I was doing an internship in Paris in 1999 and went to see Mehr and Sher Ali, a Sufi ensemble from Pakistan. It was an evening in June I think, we sat on the floor on cushions in a tent-like structure as these musicians gradually went into trance... and took me with them. I got to meet the musicians that night thanks to my uncle who had invited me and knew them. I remember going back home speechless and with my head spinning, having peaked into a whole new world and wanting to enter it. I decided the following day that I would use my management background to the service of cultural understanding in the arts, and I have been working as an intercultural arts producer ever since...
What about you?
For me I think that the first of those moments was when I was doing an internship in Paris in 1999 and went to see Mehr and Sher Ali, a Sufi ensemble from Pakistan. It was an evening in June I think, we sat on the floor on cushions in a tent-like structure as these musicians gradually went into trance... and took me with them. I got to meet the musicians that night thanks to my uncle who had invited me and knew them. I remember going back home speechless and with my head spinning, having peaked into a whole new world and wanting to enter it. I decided the following day that I would use my management background to the service of cultural understanding in the arts, and I have been working as an intercultural arts producer ever since...
What about you?
Tags: artist, artistic experience, artists, culture, life-changing
Replies to This Post
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Permalink Reply by moon wind on
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the artistic moment that changed my life was drumming with a group of faeries in san francisco.
we would go to places on the streets or in parks, dump out and set up the drums and invite standers-by to join in. the crowds would gather quite quickly.
but why and how it changed my life was when we were drumming in a parade for an annual festival called the chaski...it was the first time that the drumming sent me into trance state.
my hands were raw by the end of two hours on the float, and i was sunburned anywhere i wasn't accessorized or clothed. but the time went by timelessly!
i simply wasn't there!
it is awesome when an art form robs one of ego. when the sense of self vanishes and all that is left is that
'one love' that we all are.
drumming is a great way to achieve this state with a whole group of others.
sometimes we would tape our 'sessions'
it was always amazing to hear it that way. and quite different from the sort of non-listening hearing that
is used while part of the sound.
of course many cultures, perhaps even every culture has at one time known of the importance of the 'beat'
no small wonder then that drums are so primal and effective in raising consciousness.
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Permalink Reply by Alaine Handa on -
My first memories of ballet class when I was a child... I was entranced by movement. The freedom of it, even though it was quite rigorous training and codified sets of movements. I loved being able to dance across the floor. After ballet class, I would dance around our living room to music in my head while my grandmother was cooking dinner in the kitchen. I remember I would even forget to turn on the lights! When I picked up gymnastics at 7 years old, I incorporated cartwheels and bourrees in one "improv" section. I loved leaping, turning, crawling, tumbling in my pink ballet tights, black leotard and tightly woven bun. It was liberating!
When we had our recitals at the Gedung Kesenian in Jakarta, I was hooked. I remembered watching the older ballerinas dance so gracefully as beautiful 'merpati' and being completely entranced.
I wanted to have dance as part of my life from that point on.
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Permalink Reply by Julie Bernstein Engelmann on -
For me, probably not the only moment but definitely one of them, was seeing the Four Seasons paintings by Vasily Kandinsky at MOMA, NYC. I think I sat in front of them for hours.
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Permalink Reply by neha singh on -
I feel my whole life after my graduation, year 1993, is an inspiration. I was immensely influenced by the Rishi Valley School, of which I was a teacher, actually, the Sahyadri School. The artist teachers from Shantiniketan left an indelible mark on my psyche. We had a great artroom with immensely creative and artistic works of students on display. This was way back in 1998. The first time ever that I wanted to try my hand at art.
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Permalink Reply by Siena Klein on -
One of my most important moments came when I was sitting in my studio thinking of what to paint. Everything was
worthy and beautiful to me. How could I choose? Can just lines be visually interesting enough? I devised a pattern of
lines going from one diagonal in a square down to the opposite corner. Then there were lines going from the opposite
side down to the opposite corner. When there was one change in the order the whole pattern changed. This was a kind of minimalist approach which suited my Buddhist view of life. I then evolved to combining colors in simple systems but they must always be visually interesting enough to enjoy the painting without even knowing the pattern system.
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Permalink Reply by Wayne Harjula on -
When I was about 10 years old my dad gave me his box of worn but incredible box of paints, the purest colours are in my memory today.
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Permalink Reply by Erika McGinnis on -
It was when I discovered Surrealism, especially Salvador Dali. I was very young then, and I felt a connection inside. There was a sudden crossover from dreamstate into reality, a way for me to take images from my mind's eye and communicate them onto the canvas or paper.
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