Finding it very difficult to pull lots of ideas together. Ideas around intuition keep getting blurred with other approaches to practice. I have based my essay around the case studies of three artworks. Kiefer, Saville and Ayres: each having very different approaches, however there are many overlaps and similarities also. Getting a headache swapping between word documents so I switched to writing by hand and literally copy and pasting! Nothing like real paper and ink.

Update: Final Essay

Creative Intuition – 702 Essay Julie Ellis

Introduction

It is natural to assume that once one becomes practiced in a particular creative process that the outcome would be more refined and perfected. There is undoubtedly value in striving to perfect and understand ones craft and materials. However, there is something which quietly functions alongside this which is unique to the individual maker and is present in everything we do. This is intuition. I use this word loosely as the more I seek to understand it the more slippery it becomes to define. Intuition is perhaps at its most liberated when we are young children exploring and expressing the world around us with a natural spontaneity. Those who become artists, poets, writers and musicians appear to hold onto and nurture this naivety to allow the subconscious to be exposed in their work.

In terms of painting the immediacy and uniqueness in a mark made in a moment of impulse cannot be duplicated. It communicates physical movement, direction, pressure and speed applied by the artist in that particular instant implying emotion, anger, joy or frustration. Art historian James Elkins describes this: “Paint records the most delicate gesture and the most tense. It tells whether the painter sat or stood or crouched in front of the canvas. Paint is a cast made of the painter’s movements, a portrait of the painter’s body and thoughts.”(Elkins, 2000) Of course creative intuition is not simply defined as a brushstroke made in a moment in time; there are a number of factors which come into play all of which interweave between immediate environment and deep rooted cultural influences.

In this essay I will be breaking down the factors which influence creative production by borrowing contemporary Philosopher and musician Kathleen Coessen’s ‘Web of Artistic Practice’ and discussing how this influences the work of Anselm Kiefer, Gillian Ayres and Jenny Saville, using French philosopher of the late 19th century-early 20th century Henri Bergson to provide insight into the theory of creative intuition.

Kathleen Coessens and Henri Bergson

Kathleen Coessens outlines the factors which contribute to artistic practice which she calls ‘The Web of Artistic Practice’:

“Beneath the artist’s apparent expertise and creation, revealed in artistic realisations such as composition or performance, a complex domain of experience, knowledge, and actions is hidden and difficult to pin down. This domain consists of different tacit dimensions, which can only be made visible, understandable, by theorising, or by the introspection and interpretation of the artist. Moreover, within the process of creation, the artist is seldom consciously aware of these dimensions, the focus at that moment being creation itself, some artistic idea or aim. The tools of the artist, knowledge, expertise, experiences, and actions present in his or her creative endeavour, remain in the background of this act.” (Coessens, 2014)

According to Coessens the five dimensions which contribute to this creative interaction are; “embodied know-how, personal knowledge, the environment, the cultural-semiotic, and the receptive dimension”. (Coessens, 2014) In simple terms this is one’s ability/expertise, knowledge, physical surroundings, cultural background and interactions with others. It is interesting to note that Coessens comes from a musical standpoint however; these five dimensions can be applied to creative practice in a wider context including not only music but visual art, performance and arguably written word. Musicians and visual artists alike describe this in their practice; Norwegian composer Maja Solveg Kjelstrup Ratkje explains; “Music for me is all about communication… the meeting place … the time …the room… the people in it, yourself, the audience, and your creative collaborators”. (Ratkje, 2008) English abstract painter Gillian Ayres highlights the similarity between musician, poet and painter stating; (painting is) “Evolving something, rather in the way perhaps that a bar of music or a line of poetry follows from the last, developing and changing.” (Ayres, 2020) “Art is about expression and experience, but it’s not terribly conscious.” (Janes, 2001)

Henri Bergson talks about the evolution of human intellect which has come to overpower human instinct. According to Bergson our understanding of the world is dictated to us by our intelligence, an understanding of the world which is predominantly taught. We see our surroundings and objects in a utilitarian way. Bergson describes this as a ‘veil’ interposed between ourselves and our surroundings, a “practical simplification’ of reality. “We classify things only with a view to their use and it is this classification we ordinarily perceive”. He goes onto explain that this can “never express the true individuality of an object…art creates novelty, where language is spatial, art is temporal, expressing duration, expressing the authentic flow of experience.” (Mambrol, 2018) For Bergson, “genuine novelty is that which could not have been foreseen by intellect, for it is driven by modes of relation to experience that exceed our intellect involving “the whole person”. (Maxwell, 2013) In other words Bergson outlines that artists, poets and creative thinkers instinctively communicate in a language which could see through the veil of common perceptions and are not riveted to practical understanding or need.

Furthermore Bergson identifies intelligence and instinct as opposites outlining “instinct is the unconscious form of the inner knowledge” and “intuition is instinct become conscious in what amounts to a kind of phenomenological empiricism that can exceed verbal formulation.” (Maxwell, 2013) Bergson identifies that creative thinking could enable one to understand the “most intimate secrets of life” (Maxwell, 2013) through the artists intuitive responses to the world revealing something beyond traditional language and understanding. Bergson also states that the creative process is linked with the conception of time; “that duration, (is) the lived experience of time” (Maxwell, 2013) and could be conceived as qualitative, rather than the linear quantitive means of measuring associated with science. “Each moment possessing a quality particular to it… We do not think real time. But we live it, because life transcends intellect.” (Maxwell, 2013)

Ayres, Kiefer and Saville

‘The dance of the Ludi Magni’ – Gillian Ayres

1984

Oil on canvas

167 x 345 cm

Images; Julie Ellis

The painting ‘The dance of the Ludi Magni’ by Gillian Ayres presents a vivid, clashing of high keyed colours dominated with a seemingly chaotic application of pigment which appears to follow no rules of composition or order. Ayres describes this; “One was into the idea of no composition.” (‘Distillation’, Gillian Ayres OBE, 1957 | Tate, 2019) This is exemplary of Ayres work of the early eighties displaying visceral impasto and gestural mark making. This striking impasto is sculptural, heavy, lumpy and loosely applied with evidence of the artist’s hand which palpably tracks the duration of the making process and movements. A vague rectangular yellow ground to the upper centre which sets out the focal point of the painting bringing order to the painting briefly before the eye diverts tracking over the colourful random forms across the canvas. A roughly rendered and over-painted border runs around the edge of the canvas broken by the overlap of the main painting – evidence of the sequence of order in the making process.

For Ayres the work is about colour and application of paint often applied directly with her hands or heavily laden brushes. In the 1988 Geoffrey Robinson film Ayres can be seen climbing a ladder to apply fistfuls of paint to huge canvas’s hand rendering marks, scratches and deep brushstrokes, returning frequently to stand back and observe the whole painting “It has to work as whole sometimes sacrificing well rendered areas” (C & C Art & Design Gallery, 2016). Ayres responds in turn to the previous mark or gesture instinctively bound by her embodied know how and immediate experience with the paint interacting and modifying in the moment. Coessens describes this relationship as: (a) “high-level attuning of the physical and perceptual modalities towards the world—whether in the form of materials, tools, or instruments—in a kind of unified activity in which qualities and sensations come together. … The body of the artist is his or her first medium of expression”. (Coessens, 2014) This coming together of process and creative improvisation is described by Bergson as: “inner movement of life.”(Maxwell,2013) Ayres’s holistic approach to composition involves responding, over-painting and layering of medium in an evolving succession of ideas which link with Bergson’s theory of duration. “Expressing duration…the authentic flow of experience.” (Mambrol, 2018) In simple terms this could be likened to a piece of music where each instrument or voice overlays one another in time to create a whole which is dependent on the performatative moment.

‘Der Gordische Knoten’ – Anselm Kiefer

2018

Oil, emulsion, acrylic, shellac, wood and metal on canvas

110 1/4 x 149 5/8 in. (280 x 380 cm)

(White Cube Gallery, 2020)

Images: Julie Ellis

‘Der Gordische Knoten’ is a mixed media painting consisting of Oil, emulsion, acrylic, shellac, wood and metal on two connected canvas’s measuring almost three metres high by four metres wide. The dominating scale typical of Kiefers work is landscape both in orientation and representational terms setting out perpectival lines made up of vertical scorched branches and sticks which draw the eye to a centre point, the horizon and charcoal rendered sky. Protruding from the centre of the canvas is a large axe; the handle is a roughly cut scorched branch with twigs leaves still attached. The axe is set against a palette of natural and tonal dirty whites and greys using heavily applied pigment littered with ash and debris spilling over the canvas onto the raw edges.

‘Der Gordische Knoten’ reflects Kiefers interest in mythology, astronomy and history. In this piece Kiefer makes visual the idea that, ‘everything is connected: the missing letters, string theory, the Norns, the Gordian knot’. (White Cube – Exhibitions – Superstrings, Runes, The Norns, Gordian Knot, 2019)The painting presents the landscape whilst overlapping with ideas around folklore, mythology and scientific fact embedded in the artist’s cultural roots. The aesthetic of the landscape seems to be the universal foundation of the painting tied up in both the artist and viewers understanding of this traditional portrayal which is to do with history, nature, composition and scale. This universal element is disrupted by the placement of the axe, revealing another physical and conceptual layer representing the impenetrable knot symbolic of unsolvable problems, mathematics, science and infinity present in the work. Kiefers practice is strongly rooted in his cultural semiotic codes, the ideas which feed into his physical work hold a sense of history unique to Kiefer. The axe in ‘Der Gordische Knoten’ acts as a symbol to this cultural code, a material layer that is culturally defined. Coessens describes this; “Semiotic and symbolic systems provide the medium—tools, languages, codes—that permit the artist to translate his or her creative thinking and acting into something durable”. (Coessens, 2014) Kiefer combines this with his embodied know how, cultural and learned context and understanding of process. Coessens continues: “An artist’s expertise has a “multi-modal nature, which brings together the sensorimotor, intellectual, and embodied capacities of the artist. Multi-modality means the multi-sensory interaction of different perceptual modalities, as the artist moves seamlessly between different modes of interaction; from visual to touch to movement to idea; from body to sensation to intellect—and vice versa”. (Coessens, 2014)

This Multi-modality perhaps contradicts Bergson who outlines that: “Intellect provides access to what is already known, to what has already been described in symbolic systems like language and mathematics, while intuition is a name for the mode of perception that can directly know that which exceeds the current grasp of our language” (Maxwell, 2013) As Bergson identifies the intellect of mathematics and science in opposition to creative intuition it is interesting to see how Kiefer combines his understanding of science and mathematics to fuel his creativity drawing inspiration from both intellect and creative intuition. Using symbolic systems in his work (such as string theory and runes) to combine these elements.

‘Reverse’ – Jenny Saville

2002/2003

Oil on Canvas

213.4 cm x 243.8 cm

(Gagosian, 2003)

Jenny Saville’s painting practice deals with ideas associated with, body image, disgust, deformity, gender and feminism. Her self portrait ‘Reverse’ is dominated by the image of a female head lying on its side staring outwards at the viewer blankly, central to the canvas painted almost to the very edges of the support. The head is rested on a reflective surface mirroring the image in the lower fifth of the composition. There is a notable looseness in the brushstrokes which reveal the translucency and liquidity of the medium. The colour pallet focuses on the use of tone utilising tones of reds and browns optimising the use of every flesh-like tone between the two. The immediate response to the painting is that of scale as the familiar human features become strangely less recognisable at such an increased scale revealing an intense and perhaps sensuous intimacy in the outward gaze of the open mouthed subject which retains eye contact level with the viewer as if lying beside them. The surface of the skin is rendered using rich reds and brown pigments which in places suggest that the skin is open and bloodied; this is highlighted by brushstrokes which break the surface of the paint in a way which could describe broken skin although this remains ambiguous. There seems to be delicacy and fragility suggested through the surface of the skin and yet the painting appears to have been created with a sense of urgency and strength. The surface of the paint appears wet and evokes realism yet there is still the sense of awe in its painterly presence.

Saville’s practice generally focuses on nude subjects and predominantly female flesh, she describes this: “It’s all things. Ugly, beautiful, repulsive, compelling, anxious, neurotic, dead, alive.” (Mackenzie, 2005) Saville understands and manipulates paint in a way which describes flesh in a visceral and tangible way yet managing to retaining the materiality of the medium. She remains focussed on the intention to represent driven by her internal reference to subject matter through paint. Saville describes this: “I have to really work at the tension between getting the paint to have the sensory quality that I want and be constructive in terms of building the form of a stomach, for example, or creating the inner crevice of a thigh. The more I do it, the more the space between abstraction and figuration becomes interesting. I want a painting realism.” (Schama, n.d.)

Whilst Saville works predominantly from photographs in the studio she refers her “living sketchbook” (Mackenzie, 2005) which holds her internal memories, relationships, visual references and personal experiences. She describes one such memory where she developed a “fascination with fat” (sitting on the floor as a child watching her piano teacher)”From below she had these big, thick thighs, a thick tweed skirt and tights, and I’d spend the whole time looking at the way her thighs never parted and how the flesh would rub against the tights.” (Mackenzie, 2005) This receptive dimension can be seen in her paintings of others and self portraiture, exploring her own identity within her ideas and memories. Coessens outlines this: “confronted with him- or herself, with a self-reflective awareness of his or her position in and impact on the world, by way of personal and creative activity. …This reflection shows itself as the capacity to observe, judge, monitor, and decide about the self.”(Coessens, 2014) Saville’s work is embedded in personal interactions, memories, and the self – personal knowledge; “These tacit aspects of knowledge are the background parts that we do not question, but take for granted and use as if these are a natural part of our biological being—and thus not acquired.. in some sense “embodied.” (Coessens, 2014) In Saville’s case this embodied knowledge derives from what Bergson would describe as pure memory which recalls memories in image form which “structure the pattern of experience.” (Mambrol, 2018)

Conclusion

It seems almost impossible to untangle the many interwoven factors which subconsciously influence creative practice. Bergson talks about relation to experience that exceed our intellect involving ‘the whole person,’ something beyond intellect. The ‘knowing’ that comes from intellect or that which is learned is imprinted in our being, just as it is with childhood memories, experiences and individual culture. This ‘knowing’ is infinite as we grow, develop, experience and learn, some things remain clear and remembered and many remain in our subconscious. Coessens describes this as; mass of tacit knowledge that remains unarticulated and a-critical, of which the “knower” has only a subsidiary awareness… input of previous generations, cultural ideas, technology, education, and science, and an individual’s identity and commitment merge together in a present act. (Coessens, 2014)

In the absence of a definitive set of instructions for creative practice and the associated tools and mediums it seems that the creative mind will use their intuition to communicate inner subconscious thoughts and conscious feelings in seemingly simple act of creativity. That which is learnt, the facts and figures of life are the skeleton on which we add flesh both consciously and subconsciously and both make the whole person; an artist feeds his/her practice from the flesh of this grey area where anything is possible.

References

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Ayres, G., 2020. Modernists & Mavericks: Bacon, Freud, Hockney And The London Painters. [ebook] London: Thames and Hudson, p.Chapter 10. Available at: <https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=RVfGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT206&lpg=PT206&dq=gillian+ayres+%22intuition%22&source=bl&ots=CpLmP0a-AO&sig=ACfU3U0GDC-NjFOjkyvqvuE_YRd_pkh6Ow&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiMhPPPmsDpAhWTgVwKHaBuBMMQ6AEwAXoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q&f=false> [Accessed 20 May 2020].

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Elkins, J., 2000. What Painting Is. New York: Routledge, p.5.

Gagosian, 2003. Jenny Saville – Reverse. [image] Available at: <https://gagosian.com/exhibitions/2003/jenny-saville-migrants/> [Accessed 18 May 2020].

Janes, H., 2001. Return of the OBA’S. The guardian, [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/nov/04/life1.lifemagazine5> [Accessed 20 May 2020].

Karst Gallery, 2019. Bad Actors.

Mackenzie, S., 2005. Under the skin. The Guardian, [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2005/oct/22/art.friezeartfair2005> [Accessed 18 May 2020].

Mambrol, N., 2018. The Philosophy Of Henri Bergson. [online] Literariness.org. Available at: <https://literariness.org/2018/01/06/the-philosophy-of-henri-bergson/> [Accessed 20 May 2020].

Maxwell, G., 2013. Intellect And Intuition In Henri Bergson. [online] The Dynamics of Transformation. Available at: <https://rockandrollphilosopher.wordpress.com/2013/06/10/intellect-and-intuition-in-henri-bergson/> [Accessed 20 May 2020].

Ratkje, M., 2008. On Henri Bergson And Improvisation | Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje. [online] Ratkje.no. Available at: <https://ratkje.no/2008/03/on-henri-bergson-and-improvisation/> [Accessed 20 May 2020].

Schama, S., n.d. Jenny Saville – Passage – Contemporary Art. [online] Saatchigallery.com. Available at: <https://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/artpages/jenny_saville_passage.htm> [Accessed 18 May 2020].

Tate. 2019. ‘Distillation’, Gillian Ayres OBE, 1957 | Tate. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/ayres-distillation-t01714> [Accessed 8 May 2020].

Tate. 2020. All Too Human: Bacon, Freud And A Century Of Painting Life – Exhibition At Tate Britain | Tate. [online] Available at: <https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/all-too-human> [Accessed 18 May 2020].

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Whitecube.com. 2019. White Cube – Exhibitions – Superstrings, Runes, The Norns, Gordian Knot. [online] Available at: <https://whitecube.com/exhibitions/exhibition/anselm_kiefer_bermondsey_2019> [Accessed 18 November 2019].