Life imitates Art, and Art imitates Life. It is a familiar saying derived from the original quote within Oscar Wilde’s essay, “The Decay of Lying”, and reflects the symbiotic relationship between life and art—and the potential power of art towards change, influence and reinvention. Given the parallel dynamic between artists and culture, it is ironic that we find ourselves living in a time of chaotic uncertainty, as art initiatives and programs are experiencing drastic cuts of funding within the United States. With the decline of support for the arts amidst the increasing reliance upon and incorporation of technology into culture, it can be argued that life is no longer imitating art, but has become our sole source of art—with the chaos and animosity of the present climate influencing the way we relate and respond to one another. As mobile spectators, humanity, as a community, has become increasingly disengaged from our sense of intuition and emotional IQ. As artists and creatives, when art is executed from a place of intuition, the restorative power of creativity can be realized towards the reversal of this disengagement.
An artist’s intuition and perception of the needs within their environment, as well as within themselves, heightens their ability to transform environments and effectively impact those they serve. Looking back over the careers of various jazz masters, over the development of the art form, every leader always appears to be ahead of their time—however at closer review, they are really masters of intuition and perception, who are highly adept at synching their personal development spiritually, mentally, and physically with the expression of their instrument, and in turn synching it with the needs of the listener. Jazz master, Miles Davis is an open case study of intuition and perception. Upon examination, each transition of his career from the cool period of bop into jazz fusion and hip hop were natural changes that emanated from his ability to remain intuitive and hungry towards creative exploration, as evidenced in later works such as Aura and in his later collaborations with artists such as Prince.
Within scripture, Christ demonstrated the highest levels of perception and intuition in his various acts of healing performed on the Sabbath. Given that work was prohibited from being performed during the Sabbath day, the acts of healing were considered acts of work and in violation of the religious and cultural laws at the time. The Pharisees and the chief priests continuously criticized and villainized Christ at every occurrence, only seeing the healings as they wanted to see them—as a violation of the law—and a threat to their power, and evidence of their ineffectiveness in serving the spiritual needs of the people.
In one particular instance, as he was teaching in a synagogue, Christ spotted a crippled woman in attendance, who had been hunched over and unable to fully stand straight for eighteen years. He called out to her and proclaimed her healed--and she was immediately able to stand fully upright and walk. The official of the synagogue, in response, angrily reiterated the law of the Sabbath aloud to the crowd: “There are six days in which we should work; so come during those days and be healed, but not on the Sabbath!” In turn, Christ answered: “Any one of you would untie your ox or your donkey from the stall and take it out to give it water on the Sabbath—should she not be released on the Sabbath?” Ultimately by performing this act of healing on the Sabbath day and other subsequent Sabbaths, Christ demonstrated his creative power to regenerate and restore the broken and the sick—while demonstrating the importance of intuition and perception in meeting the spiritual needs of the people. Each of these acts of healing would stand as a precursor to his power over natural law, as demonstrated through his resurrection.
An artist’s intuition provides a bridge of perception towards effectively addressing the needs of the culture and those they serve, while engineering continual evolution of their gift—effectively shaping their creativity into a tool towards the beautification, illumination and unification of humanity.