Essay by Luke Foster
“Art is a product of the intuitive – the most powerful instrument within us. The intuitive is the most accurate sense we have.”
— Louis I. Kahn
I feel that the majority of my creativity doesn’t come out of the rationale mind but from the intuitive mind. However: I feel it’s even more powerful when the intuitive mind or gut instinct and the rationale mind work together.
My favourite intuitive artists are Anselm Kiefer, Joseph Beuys (particularly, his drawings), Yoshitomo Nara and Christian Boltanski.
However, I need an equal number of gifted female artists for inspiration like Marina Abramovic, Joan Grounds, Bonita Ely and Katthy Cavaliere.
“We always project into the future or reflect in the past, but we are so little in the present.”
Marina Abramovic
I love this quote by Marina and she is a very powerful performance artist who was also mentor to my late friend and artist Katthy Cavaliere who died age forty of cancer.
“Creativity is a great motivator because it makes people interested in what they are doing. Creativity gives hope that there can be a worthwhile idea. Creativity gives the possibility of some sort of achievement to everyone. Creativity makes life more fun and more interesting.”
Edward de Bono
I love this quote by Edward De Bono who also coined the term lateral thinking which is basically intuitive thinking in action to solve complex problems.
As far as intuition in writing I shall give two examples: Haruki Murakami my favourite male artist and Harper Lee my favourite female author.
“I think history is collective memories. In writing, I’m using my own memory, and I’m using my collective memory.”
Haruki Murakami
My favourite novel by Japanese author Haruki Murakami is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.
“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view.”
Harper Lee
Harper Lee who wrote the amazing book: To Kill a Mockingbird. This quote by Harper shows basically how empathy and intuition operate.
In conclusion I think a mixture of male and female talented intuitive creatives is important for inspiration. Perhaps intuition is most powerful when mixed with the rationale mind.