German Theatre Artist Bertolt Brecht once said, “Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.” This is a very powerful thought for us as Creators and Viewers. Why?
As we shape everything about an experience when we are creating art, we are also experiencing everything as a whole, in a certain shape when we are viewing art. How do we shape our perspectives of Creation? And, How do we shape our receptive abilities of perception while Viewing art?
Well, whether it be a painting, sculpture, print, photograph, installation, performance or any other art form, we create an experience based on what we want to convey, as the essence. Ways to convey most effectively, spaces to convey most effectively, to strike a reflective, memorable chord through our art is the objective, widely speaking. Having said that, as viewers, the experience that we shape for ourselves is dependant upon multiple factors that might be more quantitatively sub-conscious in relativity to the quantity while creating.
In the sense that, the number of conscious decisions we make might be more with our creation, as we have more time and space, but when we view art, it often resonates or not, within a span of seconds, mostly. So, the sub-conscious inevitably operates more to shape our feeling while experiencing art : our mood at the time, frame of mind, intensity and circumstantial backgrounds that may determine the zone from which we perceive.
Therefore, maybe rather than a mirror held up to us, to reflect into, art is indeed the force that actually shapes that mirror, to learn how we shape art for ourselves, for how we see determines what we see and how art ultimately shapes us, and the (our) world. Shaping can thus happen on multiple levels – shaping a concept, shaping a painting, shaping an experience, shaping an impact on one spectrum; concept shaping our views, a painting shaping our feelings, an experience shaping our day, and impact shaping our lives on the other!
This multi-fold phenomenon of art is therefore profoundly layered, reflective, impactful and therefore, a hammer / shaper of the mirror rather than a readily shaped mirror / frame itself. Shaping the Shores of Reflection.
About Sparsha By Radhika
Exploring possibilities through a variety of these artistic doors, at Sparsha by Radhika, we explore possibilities with concept and feeling to embed memorable experiences for our clients’ spaces to be energized in the most effective and special ways with our abstract paintings in Bengaluru. We work Pan India and Abroad.
Get in touch with Radhika to get going with your very own abstract painting!
Radhika is an abstract artist creating abstract paintings based in Bengaluru, servicing abstract art requirements for HNI homes and Commercial Spaces.
Check out her abstract paintings here.
