The ancients believed that words could not adequately describe the Mystical. Therefore, there is not much written material from that period. There are some writings attributed to Lao Tse that give us a clue as to what Taoist philosophy is. But, beware of all the books in the bookstores that claim to analyze and describe Tao. It just can't be done!
The book, a favorite of mine, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
was about a man seeking the definition of the word "Quality". He was driven
to madness (I think ) trying to find words to describe "Quality", yet, when
he witnessed craftsman, artists and mechanics at work he "felt" quality.
That is IT! Tao can only be described using the unwritten, unspoken language
of feelings that reside in the subconscious. I believe that if a work of
art develops from the subconscious, feelings will be expressed. If the viewer
can tune into his subconscious, feelings will be felt.
The best resource that I know, for the study of the creative right is the book entitled "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edward's.
The brain is separated into the logical, organized left side and the emotional, intuitive right side.
Roughly, 2000 years ago philosophers hit upon the idea of the Scientific Method. This is the idea that breaks down and organizes almost anything or action into tiny pieces that can be more easily handled by the limited brain-power of man. This type of thought is the logical, organized kind associated with the left side of the brain. This is the basis of western thinking and has influenced art and sciences ever since. The concept of emotional and intuition was de-emphasized and to some extent even ridiculed. The lack of growth of the emotional mind in my belief is the cause of the sickness we see today in our society. This was predicted by Toffler in his essays on "Future Shock".
Now is the time to state my thoughts on organized religion. This too, was a development from the ideas of the scientific method. It is no accident that we have a CEO of faith that we refer to as God. We then have the subordinate angels and saints. We have a staff position that consists of the Holy Ghost, and Jesus. This was also a carry over from the gods and sub-gods of myth. I can not help but notice the similarity of the name Zeus, and Jesus and of all the sub-gods of mythology. Even the Christian calendar coincides with the celebrations of the mythical gods. Recently, I read the book "The Pagan Christ" by Tom Harpur. It is a must read and is an authoritative study of the Christian, or for that mater, most all present day religions. He describes how present day religions were adaptations and downright plagiarism of ancient Egyptian religious/mythic beliefs. Most all religions utilize rewards (go to heaven) and punishments (go to hell), to keep us poor slobs in line. An old Zen master observed, that any religion that relies on a system of rewards and punishments will result in an atmosphere of greed and fear amongst the believers. Fear and greed are however, the two main roadblocks to ever achieving true spirituality.
Now, Adam Smith of merry old England, observed that greed is an inherent quality of the individual. And he concluded that greed is good because it benefits all. This is the basis of the free market economy. It is my feeling that any country that embraces greed to guide its economy is destined to fail because it can not ever achieve true spirituality.
The eastern cultures were slow to embrace the scientific method and continued the emotional, intuitive way of thought for many centuries. They did however give us the tools to turn-on the right side thinking. Through concentration and meditation the logical left mode thinking can be temporarily shut down. Total chaos also overwhelms the logical left causing it to shut down. Try analyzing a Pollock painting. It is during these times that the emotional, creative right takes over. That is the mode that artists and viewers seek; images develop by themselves, the subconscious pours out and emotions manifest themselves.
I would like to quote the definition of "content" as given in the book "Art Fundamentals" by Ocvirk, Bone, Stinson and Wigg. "The essential meaning, significance, or aesthetic value of an art form. It refers to the sensory, psychological, or emotional properties which one tends to "feel" in a work of art as opposed to the perception of mere descriptive aspects". By the way, I read this book from cover to cover at least once a year. It is a great reference book.
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