Create + Cultivate |
The work and practice of Jake Caccia - creativity and cultivation. ➔
Creativity + Cultivation
There are two main components. One is my creative work - visual art and design - and creativity in general. Another is centred around cultivation practices; my practice is rooted in Chinese internal arts, such as Taiji. This is to serve both students and practitioners and to explore the connection between these arts.
In many parts of Asia there is a long tradition of practitioners to practicing the physical arts - such as martial arts and cultural ones. Sometimes referred to in Chinese as Wenwu. Which can be literally translated as the Cultural and the Martial.
CULTIVATE
Ways of Cultivation |
Taiji Quan and Internal Practices
There many forms of cultivation across the East which have now become widespread. From Yoga, Vedanta, various Buddhist traditions and Daoist practices. They seemingly have divergent schools and methods but their similarities are more significant than their differences. They point to the same underlying principles. Their variance of language and terminology is sometimes cultural and sometimes on subtle points of difference between teachers or traditions.
The different forms of terminology are ways of approaching the same core practices. Moving, martial, internal, energetic, static postures are all practices exploring core principles in different ways; ways of developing or uncovering the qualities of the arts who’s primary aim is spiritual cultivation. Through separation, we can embody principles that can often sound difficult, far off and complicated. Much like any learning process - learning the alphabet, then writing sentences, then perhaps writing poetry or learning musical scales, learning musical pieces, and then freely expressing our musicality. In much the same way these practices uncover what is innate or forgotten but provide a clear path to be able to freely embody these realisations with increasing strength and constancy and clear away delusion. Starting with the base processes of physical and mental development, daily practice with a healthy sense of play and humour are good ways to progress.
THE BRUSH THE BODY
Create
My creative work is not necessarily directly related to “spiritual” themes or subjects. On the contrary this can be reductive, boring and restrictive. The following paragraphs are an exploration of the connection between cultivation (self development or spiritual inquiry) with creative practice.
Spirituality and Creativity
The connection between spiritual traditions and art is an obvious one. From the churches across Europe full of the work of craftsmen, architects, painters and sculptors to the calligraphy of zen masters or temples filled with mandala, buddhas and stone gardens across Asia. Less obvious is the internal development of artists or the use of an art in the life of Daoists and Zen monks as a practice in many traditions without the search for external validation or reward.
Art
The word “art” seems is a weighty term to heave around with all its implied significance. The differentiation of art and craft is less significant in many Far Eastern systems of thought. The only difference being the level of insight the practitioner embodies in his work. The best translation for the term “Gong Fu” which I have come across is “skill that transcends surface beauty”. The admiration for the unselfconscious and unbounded creativity of children was admired by artists from Picasso to Zen masters in the East where there was a desire to get past the limitations of the artifice of the adult mind.
Applied Art - Design
Artistic skill that is deployed for problem solving, products, environments, businesses, and many other things is often referred to as design. These terms are historically and culturally specific; and change significantly over time. It is hard to see Michael Angelo’s Sistine chapel frescoes as just design but they were commissioned pieces. Or the zen gardens of Kyoto as just gardens. The inspiration in both is tangible to most people. In the true sense of the word. Being in+spirit. Whether the work is commercial, commissioned or personal - it touches us. How it does this varies. When it touches our spirit it can enlighten us, create connection and empathy, and bring clarity. It can also sell us a can of coke!