Friday, February 09, 2007
Cimagala: Creativity and madness
By Fr. Roy Cimagala
WE HAVE to be very discerning these days to be able still to identify what is creative work and what is already a madman's product, what is art and what is already schizophrenia.
I'm afraid that with the way creative works are produced these days, the dividing line between these two categories is not only getting thinner but also is becoming more porous.
I'm afraid there is a trend to mix the two. A wild, illicit and dangerous intermingling is taking place. Am I being too alarmed? I hope I am. I hope I am totally wrong.
But after reading a few novels and watching a few films lately, this fear creeps into my consciousness. I try to disregard it, but I'm getting to see more reasons for such fear.
I don't wish to name specific works, usually of the literary and thespian types, but I believe the cause for concern arises mainly from the fact that these works are made independently of God and his laws.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes art as "a freely given superabundance of the human being's inner riches. Arising from talents given by the Creator and from man's own effort, art is a form of practical wisdom, uniting knowledge and skill, to give form to the truth of reality in a language accessible to sight or hearing." (2501)
From this description, we can readily conclude that art and creative activity are manifestations of one's interior life, of one's soul-how it is oriented, how it is endowed and enriched, etc.
We have to understand that art and creative work should spring from God, that is, inspired by him, and should somehow end up with him. While given certain licenses and privileges, allowing them to suspend certain laws of nature, they should never depart from this context.
We have to understand that art, creativity and originality have their source only in God. God cannot be outdone in these. It would be folly to think otherwise.
Thus, the same Catechism point teaches that: "To the extent that it is inspired by truth and love of beings, art bears a certain likeness to God's activity in what he has created. Like any other human activity, art is not an absolute end in itself, but is ordered to and ennobled by the ultimate end of man." That ultimate and, I add, constant end of man is God.
The problem we have is that the relation between art and religion, between creativity and faith is often ignored. If not ignored, then it is terribly misunderstood and twisted.
There are those who maintain that both mutually hamper each other. They say that faith limits and inhibits creativity, or that art cannot fully express itself because of religion.
These views are wide of the mark, they are wide of the truth. Quite the contrary is true. When faith and religion are properly understood and lived, then the potentials of one's creativity and artistic talents are maximized.
This obviously does not mean that art and creativity should always be religious and spiritual in theme. No. They can go deep into any field of secular interest, but they should somehow begin and end with God.
We have to overcome whatever fear we have that confines us to think that God and creativity cannot and should not go together. While we distinguish the laws proper to art and faith, to creativity and religion, we should always acknowledge their mutual need for each other.
Otherwise, it would be an art that would just be a product of techniques, with hardly any meaning and vision. It would be a creativity that can invite dangerous possibilities.
We cannot underestimate the power of art to affect not only people's thoughts and feelings but also his whole outlook. They can easily spawn pride, vanity, elf-centeredness, extreme individualism, a certain blindness amid a certain glare.
And signs of this phenomenon are appearing more often. We have to be properly forewarned as well as forearmed. Neglect in this area certainly carries a heavy and costly price.
Email: roycimagala@hotmail.com.
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