Figure 1a.
Figure 1b.
Figure 1c.
Figure 1d.
Figure 1e.
Figure 1f.
Matthew G. Mandelbaum
October 31, 1995
Introductory Comments: Our Nature
Humans desire to understand the inexplicable. We have the need to analyze, breakdown, and evaluate that which seems mysterious. We need to understand in order to feel in control to confirm our position as masters of the earth. These strong desires create research opportunities in which we find answers to our questions, while discovering new questions. We continue this process until the mystery has been solved, the case cracked, or the game has been broken. We are like warriors attacking the inexplicable until we self-proclaim our victory. Such a series of experimentation was conducted with the eight by eight square game of checkers. Modern technology and optimization theory solved this game to the point that it is no longer played in competition. The mystery, the fun, has ended and so we move on. This triumph over checkers is a bit melancholy. Certainly, it is a testimony to Science and Mathematics that the game has been solved, but what of those who loved to play? Where will they turn for their new challenge? Like the centurion searching for battle, they will find new ideas to conquer. I felt this ambivalence, as I commenced my investigation of creation of art as a multi-stage process. In analyzing the creative process, I was concerned that I might analyze it to the point where I no longer found the activity of creating to be a gratifying experience.
Analytic vs. Intuitive Thinking
There are certain concepts and actions which come intuitively to an individual. By intuitive situations, I mean those which are understood innately and cannot be verbally-articulated. These ideas seem "mysterious" to the logic-driven part of our thinking. The analytic-thinking continuously desires that which the intuition has. When the logic-zone gets a handle of the ideas held by the intuitive, it analyzes to the point where the mystery is gone. The logic-zone tries to objectify and create heuristics, while the intuitive-zone is content to deal with the relations of the idea. A war between these zones is not extremely efficient. Cooperation between the zones is ideal. In this multi-system operation, processes of hunch, judgment, synthesis are combined with the effective processes of articulate, logical analysis.
Research
In this paper, as I began to uncover the mysteries of the art that lie in my intuition, I was not sure how it would effect my desire to continue artistic expression. Thus, this research paper was a positional situation, as time was out of joint. I had to take risks, since I could not link the present state to the final. I thought that this analysis could be extremely beneficial to me. I imagined that if my analytical skills could collaborate with my intuitive, emotional ones, I might find expression even more potent, but I was not sure. I had to explore my ideas, and for that I needed courage. The information for this paper comes from my own experiences in creativity, specifically painting, as well as some comments by Henri Matisse from Notes of a Painter, 1908.
The Theory of the Creative Process
Art is a multi-stage process with opening, middle, and end stages. By the term art, I am referring to painting, as that is where my a lot of experience lies. Note: This theory is about the positional style of play, not a combinational one. If the artist is exactly sure of what he wants to create, he has little problems. He plays combinationally. For example, if he knows he wants to make a picture of a smiling face right from the start, he has a definite goal and can make a program to achieve it. He can start and complete his project quite easily. (See Figure 1)
Once the program has been developed, he takes no risks in executing the procedure; he knows exactly what to do and can finish quite easily. This creative process has little explorative value. The artistic experience worth exploring is a positional style where there is no program to reach the terminal stage. I am interested in out-of-joint thinking.
The Opening Stage
The opening stage, as the name implies, happens at the beginning of the process. The artist is unsure of where to begin. He is confronted with a blank canvas; he may feel scared, intimidated, etc. For the sake of simplicity, we will assume that the artist has a vague idea of what he wants to create for example a self-portrait, nudes in the landscape, etc. If we do not use this assumption, we have to put in extra sub-steps for the formulation of an idea through interaction with the canvas.
Figure 1.
The Program
The artist knows he wants to make a smiling face that looks like Figure 1a. He develops a program to achieve it. (Figures 1b-f)
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Figure 1a. |
Figure 1b. |
Figure 1c. |
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Figure 1d. |
Figure 1e. |
Figure 1f. |
In the opening stage, the artist puts various opening marks on the canvas. He is creating the parameters in which he can later play. The marks form the basic sketch in which the artist can express. These opening moves come from learning and experience. When someone has studied color, form, and line, his opening marks may define the perspective or station figures within the landscape. In this stage, the artist’s energy level is low; the artist is in the planning stages. The moves are based on heuristics, much like the opening moves of a chess game.
The Middle Stage
After the basic sketch has been laid, the artist moves into the middle stage. This is the most energetic stage of the process. As a bridge between the first and the last stage, the middle game relies on a positional style of play.
The middle stage begins when the artist reacts to his opening moves. He evaluates and implements change. He is compelled to continue. He makes one mark, evaluates the picture, and then makes the next mark. He is not sure where these marks will lead in terms of the final composition, but it does not matter. The artist’s intuition tells him to continue.
Realizing that art is a positional process was very hard for me to learn. When I began to paint, I would constantly erase my marks, saying that it did not look right. I was trying to link the present to the end and play combinationally. By erasing my marks, I did not allow myself to reach the middle stage. I had to calm-down the objective, rational part of my decision making. I was able to relax by telling myself that whatever mark I made was a good one, because it would lead me to the next stage. I had an Eastern Philosophy teacher in High School who would say "where ever you are, you are in the right position to get to where your going to be." What he was talking about was a pure positional style. One cannot link the ends with the present; however, this stage will position him for the next stage, whatever it may be; it will create a position for further development. From this prospective, life and art become a exciting adventure in which one has the opportunity to explore and be creative. In erasing the marks of my painting and rethinking them, I was trying to objectify and make a link to the final picture. That thinking is flawed, however, because I did not know exactly what I was creating, as I did in Figure 1 for example. I was playing with the wrong style. When I was able to get out of my rational thinking, I gave myself the chance to let my intuition create.
In the middle stage, I play positionally. It is subjective. In evaluate my position, I may feel I need to add more yellow or a curvy line. I then follow my recommendation. The positional style is implemented in circumstances where the judgment cannot be separated from the implementation. As the artist, when I feel the need to add more of one color, I put that one color down. It’s my work; I am the boss; I make and execute those decisions. I constantly assess my arrangement of form, line, and color on the canvas. If I am compelled change, I am in the middle stage.
Life
Most of our life is spent in the middle stage. When we evaluate our situation, we almost often feel the need to change in attempt to improve our situation. Yet, we are not exactly sure how it will effect our final position. We make the decision with the hope of increasing the opportunities available in the future.
Education
Education is important for two reasons. I have already mentioned the first: it gives us the heuristics for the opening stage. However, the more important, yet non-quantifiable effect of education is that it aids our evaluation process. For example, I have had some, albeit limited, schooling in color theory. When I make my color choices, I am not certain how they are done, I just do them. Some how, complementary colors find there way next to each other.
A Story On the Nature of Color, Curiosity, and Objectivity
This past summer, I studied theater at Yale, but had plenty of opportunity to paint. One day, I was painting a self-portrait in the bathroom, as it was the only place that had a mirror. A girl came in and asked me how did I know to put red on the neck or green on the nose. I stopped painting. "I don’t know," I said, "I just do it." When she asked how I knew, she was asking for a formula, a combination for successful color application. She asked me to objectify my approach which I could not do. Color application for me is subjective. I do it because I feel the need to add more color here or there.
Relations
When I evaluate my positions, I consider relations of objects. If I am not content, I continue. Henri Matisse wonderfully describes the process evaluation of color in his Notes of a Painter, 1908:
Suppose I set out to paint an interior: I have before me a cupboard; it gives me a sensation of bright red — and I out down a red which satisfies me, immediately a relation is established between this red and the white of the canvas. If I put a green near the red, if I paint a yellow floor, there must still be between this green, this yellow, and the white of the canvas a relation that will be satisfactory to me. But these several tone mutually weaken one another. It is necessary, therefore, that the various elements that I use be so balanced that they do not destroy one another. To do this I must organize my ideas; the relation between tones must be so established that the will sustain one another. A new combination of colors will succeed the first one and give more completely my interpretation. I am forced to transpose until finally my picture may seem completely changed when, after successive modifications, the red has succeeded the green as the dominant color. I cannot copy nature in a servile way; I must interpret nature and submit it to the spirit of the picture. When I have found the relationship of all the tones the result must be a living harmony of tones, a harmony not unlike a musical composition.
Matisse starts out with a vague idea and makes his sketch (the opening stage). He then gets an impulse for a color, and then another and then another (the middle stage). He continues to evaluate and make change, until he is satisfied.
The End Stage
When the artist is no longer compelled to continue, the painting is finished. I had an artist-friend at Yale who said that only the artist himself knows when the painting is done. I did not understand what she was talking about until now. Since art is subjective, only the artist can make the decision when he no longer has the desire to create, to continue. Only he knows when he is at the stage where the predisposition for further development is no longer there. At that moment, he has reached his limit for the particular work. The painting is ready to be signed and dated. This is the end stage. The energy of this stage is low, the artist has completed his work.
Additional Assumptions
For the sake of simplicity, some additional assumptions must be made in the model: when we talk about the process of art, we must remember the human limits on productivity. People get hungry, tired, etc. Their productivity diminishes with time and they need to be refreshed. After they return to feeling healthy, they need to re-engage with their work. All of these constraints have costs. For this model, I am assuming that the cost to re-engage is minimal; when the artist is tired, he takes his break and returns to the previous stage with the same intensity. Thus, I am assuming there is no marginal diminishing productivity. If I don’t make this assumption, the model gets more complex. For example, if, while in the middle stage, the artist gets tired; loses energy; takes a break; and returns, he needs to re-engage himself. To do this act, he may use some heuristics from the opening stage to loosen himself up. In this model we are assuming there is no diminishing productivity.
The Matrix and Graph of the Process
Using the terminology formulated above, along with our assumptions, we can draw a matrix and a graph showing the relationship between energy level and the amount of material on the canvas. (See Table 1.)
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Table 1. The Process
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Filled Canvas: |
Unfilled |
Filled |
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Energy level: Low |
Opening |
End |
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High |
Early-Mid Middle |
Mid-Late Middle |
This relationship of energy level and amount of material can also be shown graphically, where in the y-axis shows energy level and the x-axis shows the amount of material. (Figure 2)
Figure 2.
Energy
In this graph:
Conclusions
My choice of colors does not rest on any scientific theory; it is based on observation, on feeling, on the very nature of experience....I...merely try to find a color that will fit my sensation. There is an impelling proportion of tones that can induce me to change the shape of the figure or to transform my composition. Until I have achieved this proportion in all the parts of the composition I strive towards it and keep on working. Then a moment comes when every part has found its definite relationship and from then on it would be impossible for me to add a stroke to my picture without having to paint it all over again.
The artist uses heuristics to start his composition. Afterwards, he lets his intuition judge. He plays positionally, reacting to the canvas, and implements change until the point he no longer wishes to continue, where he is satisfied with his work. At that point he has finished.
Figure 3.
Self -Portrait: Quick Sketch
Figure 4.
Ginger Ale
Selected Source
Chipp, Herschel B. Theories of Modern Art. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1968.