Why Man Creates Art: Kanye West as an Archetypal Artist
Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2022 2:49 pm
When analyzing why man creates art, It is most useful to first consider the common personality traits among those throughout history who are regarded as the greatest artists. A counterintuitive fact common among many great artists throughout history is that they are also often depicted as "egomaniacs". Picasso, Beethoven, Mozart, Igor Stravinsky, Salvador Dali, John Lennon, Kanye West, Michelangelo, Etc. This quality within the artist is so at odds against the divine beauty which art represents, that it is important to investigate when forming a theory for why we create art. What pivotal role could the “over inflated” ego possibly play in the creation of beauty?
Art is one of man’s means of connecting with the divine spirit — all that is essential and unchanging in nature. All that is perfect, simple, harmonious, and everlasting. The Artist reaches out to the divine from his individual element, and brings the divine back to him. He does so by viewing things in his everyday life, not by how they physically appear, but by the ideas that extend beyond their physical appearance. He views in the individual object an idea that pushes it beyond the object itself. Like a growing flame on a decaying surface. Likewise, it is only when the individual exceeds his own perceived attributes of greatness that the fruits of beauty grow within him. This is the work of the artist, using his senses as the instruments upon which he sees past himself, to bridge himself with the divine spirit.
But in order for man to form a connection with the divine spirit, that connection must first be severed from man. Man would not need to bridge himself to the divine spirit through the creation of art if he were already in connection with it. This severance of man from the divine spirit can be attributed to his individual ego development. Thus, the individual becomes capable of creating a bridge between himself and the divine spirit through the creation of art when his individual element is first severed from that divine spirit by means of his ego development.
The ego functions to make the different faculties of our mind/soul more adequate. If man did not possess this center to his being, he would passively dissolve into the outside world. As such, it is the job of the ego to enrich itself inwardly. However, the negative side of the development of the ego is that it can cause one to shut off from the outside world. Our inner enrichment would come at the cost of receiving less enrichment from everything outside of us. And then eventually, the inner being is tapped dry of resources for inner-enrichment. As such, the artist must be able to enrich himself through the hardening of his ego, but also surpass his own individual element, in order to be enriched from his outer world. As such, the prolific artist has developed his ego, but is also willing to break free from its grips.
The artist is different from the truth seeker in this respect. The artist creates. He is nature's heartbeat. Whereas the truth seeker is nature's vessel. The truth seeker is not severed from the divine spirit, for he already sees that which is essential and unchanging in nature. This is why most truth seekers one encounters have predominantly patient and restrained temperaments. Nature imposes itself on them, but they don’t, so much, impose themselves onto nature.
On the other hand, “The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art” - Goethe. There isn’t a natural process behind the feelings one subjectively experiences when creating art. Art conveys aesthetic pleasures, the qualities of which cannot be attributed to natural law. As such, the creation of art is man's will penetrating the essence of nature, as opposed to nature imposing itself upon man. He is able to use the elements brought about by his ego in order to free himself from it, and towards the divine.
The musical artist and fashion designer Kanye West demonstrates these characteristics like few others in history. My proposal that Kanye West is an archetypal artist is bound to be controversial among readers, likely due to his over inflated ego and controversial antics that are so often demonstrated by the mainstream media. But this might as well support its validity, for it is this ego development that I have deemed a necessary starting point for the artist's journey towards the divine spirit. And when we conduct a more careful character analysis of Kanye West, we see a much more complicated man than what is presented to us on the surface by the mainstream media. Kanye West is someone who exceeds his own capacities in the most general sense. He is someone who continually contradicts himself on all manner of topics, but is also capable of acknowledging his own commitment of such contradictions. This sort of behavior gives him the inner access to mine his own inner contradictions, and bridge them together as a source of art, thereby allowing him to "mediate the inexpressible”, as Goethe put it, in the purest sense. He perceives himself and everything he does as great, but is also able to see past his own characteristics of greatness in order to access the beauty around him. And when we listen to Kanye West's music, putting aside all preconceptions of him as a person, it is undeniably brilliant.
With this in mind, good art isn’t the naïve imitation of nature, but rather, the individual's personal interpretation of nature.
We can also see how this is the case when analyzing “what makes good music vs bad music”, if we are so bold as to assign any objective measures on the quality of art/music. Good music tends to progress in a manner whereby each note opens the most potential avenues of resolution to its state of tonal equilibrium, while diverging least from its state of tonal equilibrium. That is to say; each progressing note should divert little from the tonal equilibrium of the piece as a whole, but should also tonally relate to many note combinations departing from that state of tonal equilibrium, which resolve back within that state of tonal equilibrium. The art is in balancing these two opposing and irreconcilable demands on the artist. This is the artist's attempt at perfection within his art, without compromising potential for progression of his art. It satisfies his soul while maintaining his individual element that drives him to keep creating, and keep seeking out the divine spirit.
Art is one of man’s means of connecting with the divine spirit — all that is essential and unchanging in nature. All that is perfect, simple, harmonious, and everlasting. The Artist reaches out to the divine from his individual element, and brings the divine back to him. He does so by viewing things in his everyday life, not by how they physically appear, but by the ideas that extend beyond their physical appearance. He views in the individual object an idea that pushes it beyond the object itself. Like a growing flame on a decaying surface. Likewise, it is only when the individual exceeds his own perceived attributes of greatness that the fruits of beauty grow within him. This is the work of the artist, using his senses as the instruments upon which he sees past himself, to bridge himself with the divine spirit.
But in order for man to form a connection with the divine spirit, that connection must first be severed from man. Man would not need to bridge himself to the divine spirit through the creation of art if he were already in connection with it. This severance of man from the divine spirit can be attributed to his individual ego development. Thus, the individual becomes capable of creating a bridge between himself and the divine spirit through the creation of art when his individual element is first severed from that divine spirit by means of his ego development.
The ego functions to make the different faculties of our mind/soul more adequate. If man did not possess this center to his being, he would passively dissolve into the outside world. As such, it is the job of the ego to enrich itself inwardly. However, the negative side of the development of the ego is that it can cause one to shut off from the outside world. Our inner enrichment would come at the cost of receiving less enrichment from everything outside of us. And then eventually, the inner being is tapped dry of resources for inner-enrichment. As such, the artist must be able to enrich himself through the hardening of his ego, but also surpass his own individual element, in order to be enriched from his outer world. As such, the prolific artist has developed his ego, but is also willing to break free from its grips.
The artist is different from the truth seeker in this respect. The artist creates. He is nature's heartbeat. Whereas the truth seeker is nature's vessel. The truth seeker is not severed from the divine spirit, for he already sees that which is essential and unchanging in nature. This is why most truth seekers one encounters have predominantly patient and restrained temperaments. Nature imposes itself on them, but they don’t, so much, impose themselves onto nature.
On the other hand, “The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art” - Goethe. There isn’t a natural process behind the feelings one subjectively experiences when creating art. Art conveys aesthetic pleasures, the qualities of which cannot be attributed to natural law. As such, the creation of art is man's will penetrating the essence of nature, as opposed to nature imposing itself upon man. He is able to use the elements brought about by his ego in order to free himself from it, and towards the divine.
The musical artist and fashion designer Kanye West demonstrates these characteristics like few others in history. My proposal that Kanye West is an archetypal artist is bound to be controversial among readers, likely due to his over inflated ego and controversial antics that are so often demonstrated by the mainstream media. But this might as well support its validity, for it is this ego development that I have deemed a necessary starting point for the artist's journey towards the divine spirit. And when we conduct a more careful character analysis of Kanye West, we see a much more complicated man than what is presented to us on the surface by the mainstream media. Kanye West is someone who exceeds his own capacities in the most general sense. He is someone who continually contradicts himself on all manner of topics, but is also capable of acknowledging his own commitment of such contradictions. This sort of behavior gives him the inner access to mine his own inner contradictions, and bridge them together as a source of art, thereby allowing him to "mediate the inexpressible”, as Goethe put it, in the purest sense. He perceives himself and everything he does as great, but is also able to see past his own characteristics of greatness in order to access the beauty around him. And when we listen to Kanye West's music, putting aside all preconceptions of him as a person, it is undeniably brilliant.
With this in mind, good art isn’t the naïve imitation of nature, but rather, the individual's personal interpretation of nature.
We can also see how this is the case when analyzing “what makes good music vs bad music”, if we are so bold as to assign any objective measures on the quality of art/music. Good music tends to progress in a manner whereby each note opens the most potential avenues of resolution to its state of tonal equilibrium, while diverging least from its state of tonal equilibrium. That is to say; each progressing note should divert little from the tonal equilibrium of the piece as a whole, but should also tonally relate to many note combinations departing from that state of tonal equilibrium, which resolve back within that state of tonal equilibrium. The art is in balancing these two opposing and irreconcilable demands on the artist. This is the artist's attempt at perfection within his art, without compromising potential for progression of his art. It satisfies his soul while maintaining his individual element that drives him to keep creating, and keep seeking out the divine spirit.