The Collective Unconscious in Art

A couple years ago my family and I went to Savannah, GA to visit family and attend my uncle's wedding. For anyone who hasn't been to Savannah, I highly encourage you to. Its a beautiful city filled with great bars, friendly people, and fantastic art (work from Savannah College of Art and Design, SCAD, is everywhere along with experienced artists work).

While we were there exploring the city there was a music video being filmed for an up and coming country singer in the middle of a park. We also met a group of students from SCAD who were hired to sing and dance on a cruise ship after the graduate. While window shopping we went into a shop that had showcases of different, vibrantly colored, butterflies. After talking to the store owner we found out the different species of butterflies he had and ended up buying one of the smaller showcases.

One of my favorite galleries we went to was Brian MacGregor's. His paintings were very intriguing and, when taking a closer look at them, we saw that they were painted on people's written down dreams. On his website he explains the concept behind his art as having a focus on a visual metaphor of the collective unconscious, in other words: dreams. Over the years he collected hundreds of written dreams from all ages and multiple languages. He glues down the dreams then paints over them. He does this in his works ranging from lanscapes, abstract, to figurative.

I am unable to upload his paintings onto my blog, so check out his website to see the great work.

street art

I stumbled upon the most beloved street art and fell in love with  the way it can beautify a city. I am especially interested in the use of street art as a form of advertising, being an Art and Mass Comm double major. My advertising professor described to us a campaign she did for a client in DC that involved chalking the sidewalks and streets in the surrounding area: a very cost effective way of reaching a metropolitan audience.

I try to take time to stop and appreciate the random sparks of artistry in the city and seeing street art as an attempt to beautify grotesque or unattractive cities should be viewed as a type of philanthropy that benefits the community (if done well, of course).

Here's some of my favorites:

Poem

Chief Tecumseh (Crouching Tiger) Shawnee Nation 1768-1813

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.

Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.

When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.

Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.

When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled
with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep
and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.
Sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

I read this poem in my Crossing Cultures class and found it to be extremely inspiring. My professor is obssessed with including quotes, thought-provoking anecdotes, and poems in his worksheets and assignments and this poem has been my favorite thus far. The poem expresses simple rules to an ideal lifestyle, but its worded very elegantly. When I read through it I try to pick out my favorite line, but I realized each line is profound. For example, "When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living/If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself," is a beautifully worded way of encouraging people to take nothing for granted. To observe the joy and luxuries of your life and if you see no reason for giving thanks, you have only yourself to blame.