Not every piece of art you create will be perfect, but if you let fear stop you, then you’ll never create anything. You learn from every piece you create. — Sarah B I am not an artist -- I am a phony. I have nothing worth saying. I'm not sure what I'm doing. Other people are better than I am. I'm only a [student/physicist/mother/whatever]. I've never had a real exhibit. No one understands my work. No one likes my work. I'm no good. The session will provide a concise introduction to the core theme and its significance for philosophy and the arts. We’ll then break into smaller groups for a guided discussion in which participants can explore the ideas and develop their own take on them in relation to the exhibition and to contemporary events. The Dutch Northern Renaissance artist Hieronymus Bosch has puzzled historians for decades. The true meaning of his work may never be fully understood. One aspect that is certain, however, is that the nightmarish scenes depicted in his works reflect the religious fears that pervaded society at the time. The 16th century was a period of widespread religious protest and reform in Europe, sparking the separation of the Church into Protestantism and Catholicism. Like many during this period, Bosch was deeply concerned about the end of the world and humanity’s eternal punishment for its sins.

While social media amplifies anxieties in a public forum, giving rise to new forms of anxiety and antagonistic behaviour (FOMO, cyber-bullying, the initially fictional condition of video-physiognomic- dysphoria (VPD) or aversion to one’s online video image), and feeds new obsessions and related art forms, the concept of anxiety has been with us for centuries. There is no ready vocabulary to describe the ways in which artists become artists, no recognition that artists must learn to be who they are (even as they cannot help being who they are.) We have a language that reflects how we learn to paint, but not how we learn to paint our paintings. How do you describe the [reader to place words here] that changes when craft swells to art? Creating art is a gift from our creator — one of our closest things to a spiritual reward and most intimate form of individual expression. Learning not to allow one’s ego to become vulnerable to negative criticisms is our second biggest reward. — Suzanne F Fighting PerfectionismIt is still challenging for some clients to try to think and express themselves through the art, no matter what directive you give them. And some clients still worry about the final art product looking good or tell me that they don’t like this exercise because they don’t want to pay attention to their emotions. Visual art has more to do – not simply in documenting the range and extent of our anxieties, but in constructing the means for their relief. Foster Wallace once named ‘fiction, poetry, music’ as the arts through which the loneliness of mental illness may be ‘stared down, transfigured, treated’. Such big claims are more commonly made for both literature and music, perhaps because those forms can be experienced in private worlds. Books and music are a functional distraction from insomnia and pain, a means to quell rumination. More commonly an institutional experience, visual art does not seek to compete as cultural benzodiazepine. Art is indispensable to exposing such illusion and the exclusions it perpetuates. Art can inhabit spaces that may be off-limits, as Bonvicini recently noted: ‘You are allowed to do anything as an artist, you can be blind, crazy, or dead serious… the question is really: can you ever expand the boundaries? Who defines them? Who determines them? Where are they actually?’ Paul Virilio is one of contemporary Continental thought's most original and provocative critical voices. His vision of the impact of modern technology on the contemporary global condition is powerful and disturbing, ranging over art, science, politics and warfare. By witnessing the art, the therapist gives the client the experience of validation and acceptance of their feelings.

After teaching art to high schoolers for 18 years, I have learned that to conquer fear you must face it head on. With that your insecurities will disappear. — Robin DSometimes the emotions are expressed unexpectedly or naturally arise from a directive that is not directly about feelings. For example, in “playing” with watercolors through a sensory-based activity, the client might discover that emotions are coming up in themselves or through the art. Or a prompt for a client to create a collage about family is likely to lead to an exploration of feelings that are reflected in the chosen images. There really wasn't any excuse not to reference more women. There are so many wonderful, talented, brave artists out there who would have made for better material than "a friend of the authors". The first half examines the core elements of existentialist thought, and its relation to anxiety as a vehicle for self-discovery and ethical change. The second half will look at artistic depictions of emotion more broadly: how can a painted surface express happiness or misery? And who gets to judge whether it succeeds? Unlike fear, which is a biological ‘fight or flight’ response to a present threat, anxiety is ‘fear without a definite object’, as the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard established in 1844’s The Concept of Anxiety. Fear subsides when an external threat is no longer present, while anxiety festers internally but may latch on to objects in its path.

First of all, there were a couple of gold nuggets in the book. I rather liked the anecdote of an artist who took dancing for fun, excelled, then had to relearn how to dance for others when the chance arose for her to be part of a performance troop. It was just interesting that she had to relearn a skill she already had with a different motivation.If you’re a nerd for personality types, then you’ll appreciate what I’m about to divulge. When it comes to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, I’m an INFJ. As far as Enneagrams are concerned, I’m a Type 4 — “The Artist,” go figure. A common attribute of these specific “types” is the deep disdain for small talk. Instead, I crave raw, real, and meaningful conversations. I feel more seen and heard when I can let it all hang out with someone who also wants to share their deepest thoughts. I also feel a lot less alone in my struggles, insecurities, and fears. This vulnerable type of expression and connection is also, in my humble opinion, the pinnacle of art itself. Learned of this term recently, ‘imposter syndrome’. I struggled with this much of my life without knowing it was common among most of us. Recognizing these feelings and understanding it’s normal helps. I keep my head down and create. — Kate S Francisco Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son is one example of this artistic shift. This work depicts Saturn, the father of Zeus in Roman mythology, eating his son. According to mythology, Saturn ate each of his children in fear that one of them would overthrow him. For each of the emotions, I encourage clients to do an abstract picture and avoid words, faces, and recognizable images. I ask them to think about what colors they connect with each feeling and then what lines, shapes, and gestures could express that feeling.