Анна Маслякова - The History of Philosophical Ideas and Their Expression in Art

To my dear parents

“Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita

mi ritrovai per una selva oscura

che’ la diritta via era smarrita”

(Dante. “La Divina Commedia”). 1 1 “Midway upon the journey of our life / I found myself within a forest dark, / for the straightforward pathway had been lost” (Dante. “Divine Comedy”).

“Puesto nombre, y tan a su gusto, a su caballo, quiso ponérsele a sí mismo, y en este pensamiento duró otros ocho días, y al cabo se vino a llamar “ don Quijote” ; de donde, como queda dicho, tomaron ocasión los autores desta tan verdadera historia que, sin duda, se debía de llamar “Quijada”, y no “Quesada”, como otros quisieron decir” . (Miguel de Cervantes. “El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha”). 2 2 “Having got a name for his horse so much to his taste, he was anxious to get one for himself, and he was eight days more pondering over this point, till at last he made up his mind to call himself “Don Quixote,” whence, as has been already said, the authors of this veracious history have inferred that his name must have been beyond a doubt “Quixada”, and not “Quesada” as others would have it” (Miguel de Cervantes. “The History of Don Quixote”).

‘“Must I show you a place to sleep? Are you not at home here?”. “I understand that you take me for one of the tiny folk,” said the midget, “but I’m a human being, like yourself, although I have been transformed by an elf.” “That is the most remarkable thing I have ever heard! Wouldn’t you like to tell me how you happened to get into such a plight?” The boy did not mind telling her of his adventures, and, as the narrative proceeded, she who listened to him grew more and more astonished and happy. “What luck to run across one who has travelled all over Sweden on the back of a goose!” thought she. “Just this which he is relating I shall write down in my book. Now I need worry no more over that matter. It was well that I came home. To think that I should find such help as soon as I came to the old place!” Instantly another thought flashed into her mind. She had sent word to her father by the doves that she longed for home, and almost immediately she had received help in the matter she had pondered so long. Might not this be the father’s answer to her prayer?”’ . (Selma Lagerlöf. “The Wonderful Adventures of Nils”).

It is generally accepted that there are Turning Points in our lives that Change Us Forever. So, let me tell you My Story.

I remember my mother sitting at the piano and playing the “Swan Lake”. It was then that I decided to become a Musician. I had no fear of performing in front of the audience and I could play the piano without even looking at the keyboard.

When I was studying at the Music College in Smolensk, fate, once again, intervened on my behalf – one of the professors recommended me to read a book about Alexander Scriabin. And from that time on, the creativity of this composer has captured my imagination.

In Minsk I have met with Dr. Elena Polyakova – my Master’s supervisor who has eventually become my best friend ever. She taught me how to write articles and we used to talk a lot about Art and Education.

We attended conferences in Vitebsk, Mogilev, Moscow and, finally, we visited Saint Petersburg where I have made an acquaintance with another professor – Dr. Alexander Klujev – who has also played a significant part in my scientific career. He has never interfered with my Ph.D. research, on the contrary, he encouraged me to develop my own creativity.

And last but not least, I strongly believe that it is absolutely impossible to study Art without Travelling. You can read a lot about the Sistine Chapel or the Sainte-Chapelle, and yet, not until you see them will you realize the real Power of Art. Among the masterpieces that have impressed me most are Claud Monet’s “Waterloo Bridge”, Dürer’s “Self Portrait”, Raphael’s Lodges, Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers”, the Gates of Paradise by Lorenzo Ghiberti, etc. That is why my research is complemented by the so-called “Impressions of the Cities”. Although all the Chapters of the Book are in Chronological Order, each of them has its own Form and I encourage you to Choose the Sequence of the Chapters according to your personal preferences . Taking into account the fact that the Beauty of the World is Endless, this research will be continued.

It seems to me that there is something Mysterious about Art. On the one hand, you could be a spectator and go to Concert Halls, Theaters and Museums and, as for me, I could spend hours walking around exhibitions, looking at Paintings and Sculptures and contemplating the Power of Art. I am virtually certain that nothing could be better than Live Concerts, especially when an Author is sitting in the audience, since when the curtain opens and conductor goes on stage, Magic happens and you feel a sense of Unity not only with humanity, but also with the whole Universe.

On the other hand, you could take Your Story and Paint it, Sing it, Dance it or Write about it and thus enhance the Healing Power of Art. Since you have everything you need inside you, you should Open up your Heart, Honor the Light inside you and Bring the Gifts of Your Creativity to the World. One should not forget that There Can Be No Mistakes in Art, that is to say, you should Release the Inner Critic within you and Be Who You Are. And I must say that for me it has been one of the most challenging problems because I have been suffering from self-doubt all my life.

I am virtually certain that Eastern Culture and Philosophy may be helpful. According to “Dao De Jing”, sometimes when you want something to happen you have to do the opposite. “Dao ever-constantly practices non-action, / Yet nothing is left undone. / If nobles and kings could maintain it, / The ten thousand creatures would naturally transform. / Transform, and if desire arises, / I would restrain it by means of the nameless uncarved block. / In the state of the nameless uncarved block, / Men also would be without-desire. / Not desiring, thus they would be still – / And the world would naturally settle”. And Basho’s Haiku Poems which often have multiple meanings are fascinating – “Temple bells die out. / The fragrant blossoms remain. / A perfect evening!”. I absolutely adore the Mysterious sound of Guzheng – a very old Chinese plucked string instrument tuned in a major pentatonic scale. There are the so-called Talking Drums and by changing the pitch of the drum you can imitate African speech patterns and send Musical Messages over long distances. Singing Bowls, on the other hand, are widely used in Buddhist Temples or Pagodas since not only can you produce a tone by striking the edge of the bowl, but you can also create residual vibrations which have Healing properties. In India they know how to lead a happier life as well, suffice it to mention Holi – an ancient festival during which people laugh, dance and spray bright colors on each other. Their Temples look Magnificent (for example, the Lakshmana Temple) and nothing can be compared with Indian Music which is not fixed and stable but, on the contrary, relies on improvisation and is characterized by sliding or gliding from one Svara (tone) to the next (“Sarasiruha” – “To the Goddess Saraswati” starting from the free-flowing exploration of the Raga – an Indian equivalent of Scale). And despite the fact that Indonesian Music, the entire system of which is based on a sense of pitch that is outside our twelve tone realm, may sound strange, it has its own Beauty.

As a matter of fact, I have always tried to create “Sacred Spaces” – artistic compositions consisting of porcelain statuettes, postcards, toys, artificial flowers – and put them all over my flat so as to feel comfortable and safe. But when the virus started spreading around the world and they told us to stay at home, I became afraid and could do nothing. Then I decided to finish my Book on Art and when I was writing about my previous trips around Europe, I felt as if I was visiting those places once again. Or, even more, as if I had never left them. And after a while my mother asked me to create some illustrations for her new book. I hesitated at first since I am a Musician and not a Painter. And yet, it was so exciting that I ended up writing Poetry so as to make it easier for children to learn Musical Language. It was fun and these “jobs” helped me to overcome stress. Interestingly enough, I did not use dark colors in my paintings, on the contrary, I chose yellow, blue, red, green and pink.

Suddenly I realized that My Mission in life is to Explore the Beauty of the World and Share my Knowledge with People. I do believe that Art as a whole and This Very Book in particular could help you to overcome pain and darkness and Transform your Soul. All in all, Life is nothing but a Dream and like Zhuangzi who “ didn’t know if he was Zhuangzi who had dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was Zhuangzi” you might never find final solution to this problem.

I have been studying the connection between different branches of Art for a long time and was delighted to know that there is a significant basis for my research. That is to say, the carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms in our bodies, as well as atoms of all other heavy elements, were created in previous generations of stars over 4.5 billion years ago. This idea that We are all Made of the Same Staff as Stars took me by surprise. So, we all have the same birthday – the Beginning of the Universe.

Interestingly enough, the Earth is a Closed System and it must obey the Second Law of Thermodynamics according to which the Universe has a consistent amount of energy; and when some energy is lost in any operation, it ultimately leads to the Rise of Entropy and the inevitable Heat Death of Matter in the Universe. It implies that the Universe is destined to get simpler and simpler, even though its “pockets” still enjoy concentrations of energy, energy flow, and therefore complexity. On the other hand, there are a lot of Open Systems on Earth to which this Law cannot be applied and Art, being one of them, interacts with the environment and conveys Great Ideas of Humanity in Sound, Color, Shape, etc. Different branches of Art (Music, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, etc.) are in constant Dialog with each other and, from time to time, they Unite their forces (Opera, Ballet, Happening, Installation, etc.) so as to make it easier for us to appreciate the Beauty of the World. And yet, we may never understand what is a Piece of Art-in-itself since all we know is the way in which Art appears For-Us in different interpretations.

According to the Big History Project, there are Eight Main Thresholds – major phase-shifts leading to the beginning of the Universe, the First Stars, new Chemical Elements, the origin of Planets and the Solar System, the Beginning of Life, the Evolution of Collective Learning, the Emergence of Agriculture, and the Beginning of the Modern Revolution. In this book we are going to scrutinize the way in which Philosophical Ideas have been expressed in Art from Antiquity to the Present Day . If the predictions are true and life on Earth will be destroyed, all we can do is try to postpone this event by developing new technologies enabling us to travel through the Universe and find another planet on which we could live and Create New Art.