Art's root: mother-infant interactions

As Ellen and I gear up for our second annual arT partY, I found Natalie Angier's NYT article The Dance of Evolution, or How Art Got Its Start particularly interesting. All the more so for the following excerpt:

Perhaps the most radical element of Ms. Dissanayake’s evolutionary framework is her idea about how art got its start. She suggests that many of the basic phonemes of art, the stylistic conventions and tonal patterns, the mental clay, staples and pauses with which even the loftiest creative works are constructed, can be traced back to the most primal of collusions — the intimate interplay between mother and child. (more)

The article goes on to link the simple interactions a mother and infant share -- facial expressions, tone of voice, body language -- to the heart of what art is: aesthetic operation. My understanding of the short article is that Ms. Dissanayake would claim that art is a response, particularly to an external stimulus. I don't know if I agree. Art I create certainly IS a response, but the art I am most proud of minimizes the amount to which it is a response to an external force and more often the source is unknown and internal. On the other hand is there anything someone can posses internally that is not in some way influenced by external forces?

What I would agree with is that mother-infant interactions are extremely influential. As famed French obstetrician Michel Odent explains in Ricky Lake's recent Business of Being Born, at the moment of birth, mothers release high levels of oxytocin, known as the "love hormone." At that moment, mothers are literally addicted to their babies and love (if they're not on an epidural). Sounds like a bad time to snatch a baby away to measure, weigh, slap, poke, and prod. Why is that our first moment of contact with the world is so commonly traumatic and disrupted?

-dr-

Spruilla

Went to the opening of the most recent Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) installation in Red Hook, Brooklyn a couple weeks ago (RazCast to the right). My friend Angela Spruill had a few pieces up among the several rooms of artwork, along with her beau Matt's industrial sculpture.

Given the end goal of her artist's statement,

My end goal is to mirror the complexity of what transpires in our everyday communications, and in turn, to inspire a dialogue among and with the viewers.

it looks like Angie's achieved the second part just with my blog posting alone. Congrats!

As for the first part about everyday communication, can you guess where Angie works based on this thumbnail of one of her paintings:



That's right, she works at Ruder Finn, like me, except seems like our pharma clients have gotten to her.

Angela's work is terrific, and I hope she's successful at this show so we can be treated to more of her work at a larger show sometime in the near future. Maybe we'll see her on Brooklyn Artists soon?

As for the rest of the BWAC show, we were pleasantly surprised to be treated to the world premier of De Urbo Coctile (of the brick city), a modern dance performance by George Hirsch & Company (no link available).

The performance with music by Arvo Part consisted of 5 concurrent, repeated scenes throughout the building and a sixth finale scene performed outdoors with all the dancers to live music. Some scenes below...

A sample of one of the scenes. I believe this is Scene B, as performed by Marie Blondina and Jamie Chandler, music by Arvo Part (Trivium I, Trivium II):




All the dancers came together for the finale with live music. Statue of Liberty in the background, replete with strange-looking conductor in Paris Hilton shades and a ponytail:



-dr-