This work/painting consists of a few layers. First I painted the background in soft peachy colours, then I printed on five different transparencies parts of a photo of raindrops on a banner, plus one of a building at sunset. I then glued the transparencies on to the canvas and painted the man on top of the transparencies. Finally, I added a transparency with the words printed on it on top of the previous layers and painted the white highlights.
In case you are wondering, I have written all this in order to segue-way my way to write about imagination...
There are a few definitions already on the painting, but there are more: "the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or... images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses, the ability to form a picture in your mind of something that you have not seen or experienced, or...creations in the mind triggered by a thought" to mention a few.
What I find very interesting, and hopefully you too, is where it comes from. As in; even if it is triggered by a thought, where did the thought come from in the first place?
On my journey as a visual artist, composer and writer, I am often asked: where did you get that (whatever it may be) idea from?
At the Dartmouth College Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, researchers are suggesting this: "what we call the imagination is the product of a widespread network of neurons (what they call the "mental workspace") that consciously alters and manipulates images, symbols, and ideas, and gives us the intense mental focus that we need to come up with new ideas and solutions to complex problems".
However, the question as to why some of us are more imaginative and (or) creative than others, remains unsolved. Sigh!
As there are different kinds of IQ recognised: spatial, academic, kinesthetic, emotional, social, etc.etc. it seems that perhaps there may also be different kinds of imaginations: active, passive, receptive, creative, intellective, practical, and so on.
If memory is a reproduction (although heavily influenced by perception) of the contents of past experiences, imagination some say, re-constructs the contents differently from the original experiences.
Is imagination the same as creativity?
Some say yes, some say no, personally I view them as different things.
For me, imagination is something that we all possess more or less, but often remains as inactive thoughts, creativity on the other hand is when we do something that involves some form of activity involving those thoughts. The Wright brothers began with imagining that humans could fly, then followed up with creatively figuring out how that could become possible. Thomas Edison imagined electric light bulbs, Alexander Bell imagined a way to speak with someone long distance, aka the telephone, or Charles Babbage, his imaginings lead to creating the first mechanical computer, etc.etc.
Imagination can be a springboard to creativity, to inventions, to ideas becoming realities, and so on, and in such cases, imagination can be viewed as a "good" thing, ...can imagination also be a "bad" thing? There are sometimes terms attached to imagination: over active, vivid, wild, un-realistic, un-inhibited, which seem to me to suggest that there is such a thing as "too much" imagination which can potentially be "bad" for us. (If too much can be bad, can it also be bad to have too little?)
If our imagination interferes or affect our lives in ways that make our lives more painful, or in other ways more difficult, then perhaps that could be qualified as bad, or too much, although to me that is very much up to each of us to determine.
After all, we use the same brain to imagine either "bad" or "good" things according to how we define such things.
Albert Einstein: "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions."
Imagination can stir up passions which may lead to creative pursuits, imagination can help us imagine positive as well as negative scenarios, imagination often stimulates innovation and creativity > "imagination is the fertile soil in which possibilities reside". (Citizen Z)
As far as I can ascertain, we are all born with the facility to imagine things, but often, as we proceed through the education system, imagination becomes more of a stumbling block rather than an asset.
"Such and such would do better if he/she spent more time in the real world rather than in some imaginary world." Slowly but surely, it becomes harder and harder for some of us to stay connected with our imagination. Einstein: "Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere."
“There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun." (Pablo Picasso)
Albert Einstein again: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
Imagination, could it perhaps be viewed as a "mindset"...and with that I mean; entertaining many possibilities, keeping an open mind, staying flexible, viewing "what if?" as a viable question.
Not so long ago much of what was possible in Science Fiction Movies was viewed as pure imagination, pure fiction, in todays world, many of those impossibilities have become realities.
Having an imagination, as I see it, does not necessarily have to involve any kind of art form or specific creative pursuit, rather, it has to do with "stretching" our minds in order to enrich our experience of what it is to be a fully alive human being.
"Imagination is the fertile soil in which possibilities reside". (Citizen Z)
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