CONSUMPTION AS A CURE

Every artist has their own ways of weathering these creative dry spells. I mentioned last week in my blog that mine is a combination of distractions, specifically books and videogames.

I remember a time when even reaching for the playstation controller or scouring the shelves of whatever book store I found myself in, I still found it difficult to really commit myself. I’d start a game and lose interest half hour later or read a chapter before closing it and setting it aside. I was like a smoker in that first week of quitting. In the grips of withdrawals, manic and bouncing from one thing to the next. Trying to find that something to preoccupy my mind, to stimulate it thoroughly enough to forget the cravings. I didn’t have the inspiration, the motivation or the inclination to create any art. That didn’t stop that soft yet all too familiar voice in the back of my mind taunting me with ridicule and recrimination. All for simply enjoying these novelty past-times instead of creating artwork that wasn’t even there to be created. Over time though, these novelties, these frivolous past-times have become one of the most powerful tools with my struggles against Creative Block.

While in this stagnant state of artistic purgatory, opening a book and reading that first page, that first chapter, can transport me from my reality of limbo to whatever haunting, eerie, wonderous, fantastical world the author has created for me. Each passing paragraph building a more vivid picture in my minds eye. It is for this very reason that I prefer books over film and T.V, books force me to build this world using my imagination. Just like working out any other muscle, a good warm up can really get the juices flowing. Now whenever I read, I have a pen and sketchbook handy as I’ve found this is when I’ll get a jolting idea.

Video games on the other hand, they may not force you to use your imagination but what they lack in that department they make up for in immersion. This level of immersion (when done well) results in what feels like personal experience. Experiences with characters, beasts, creatures in lands and worlds we could only hope to dream. In my opinion, there is no greater source of inspiration than experience.

Occasionally I will look back at past artworks and I can pick out what game I was playing, what novel I just finished and if I was this invested in it, it is a safe bet that I was in some form of creative rut.

It’s that reflection that tells me that each book I consume, every game I conquer, is a cure for that artist’s ailment.