Yesterday was a Neil Gaiman and David McKean day. The most inspiring art I have read and seen for a long time. This was my Sunday:
- Noon: The Wolves in the Walls
- Afternoon: Signal to Noise
- Evening: MirrorMask
The Wolves in the Walls
It started with the incredibly nice, scary, funny and beautiful The Wolves in the Walls. I love how the story is told from a very innocent children's point of view that does not question if things are logical. As long as you believe it, it may become your reality. And, as Lucy's mother warns, "When the wolves come out of the walls, then it's all over." "What's all over?" asked Lucy. "It." said her mother.
Signal to Noise
Incredibly inspiring. Dark yet full of humanity, tranquility and passion. Despite the noise. A dying filmmaker is working out his last film that noone will ever see. On the back of the cover it says that "he's still pointlessly working it out in his mind". Pointlessly? That would assume that art requires an audience. But (and that's what I read elsewhere):
Art is the cry of the soul from the core of one's being. Creating and appreciating art set free the joyous soul trapped deep within us. That is why art causes such joy. Art, quite aside from any question of skill or its lack, is the emotion, the pleasure of expressing one's life exactly as it is. Those who see such art are moved by its passion, its strength, its intensity and its beauty. That is why it is impossible to separate fully human life from art. (Ikeda, p. 254)
I like that. The cry of the soul. I wish this was true for more things called art. And then: How can I find my own cry? Yet elsewhere it says that "there was no point in writing without serious motivation" (Eco, p. 23). The cry, the motivation. It's there, but it isn't loud enough just yet. Discovering this cry and motivation I believe is the most important aspect of this entire project, assessment and degrees aside. After all it's only worth doing all of this if I can grow.
Back to Signal to Noise. It sparked a whole chain of new story ideas. Like a magic wand for creativity.
MirrorMask
A fantastic journey of finding ones identity, centered around the teenage girl Helena coming to grips with her life that's torn between loyalty and rebellion, love and anger. Highly imaginative and inspirational.
References
Eco, U. (1997). Foucault's pendulum. Ballantine Books.
Gaiman, N., & McKean, D. (2003). The wolves in the walls. HarperCollins.
Gaiman, N., & McKean, D. (2007). Signal to noise. Dark Horse.
Ikeda, D. (1999). Faith into action. World Tribune Press.
Gaiman, N., & McKean, D. (2006). Mirrormask. Sony Pictures.
Comments
Post your comment
No one has commented on this page yet.
RSS feed for comments on this page | RSS feed for all comments