Henri Bergson on Change

Like many French philosophers, artists, poets, and writers, Henri Bergson's perspective on life is one that I can appreciate. I've talked here before about how I don't agree with that idea that - everything has already been done. The search and production of fresh original perspective and expression never ends as long as our existence continues.

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly"

-Henri Bergson (1859- 1941)

Bergson's quote here back me up on that train of thought. I think most artists and creative people would agree, that one's style of expression changes over the course of time. For it not to change, is the death of that art and artist. Once you do truly learn to let go as an artist, I think is when you create the best art. And a good way to achieve that is to constantly strive towards challenging oneself to grow and change.

Non-Objective Art, Intuition, and Expression

Now the following quote from Henri Bergson is one that really gets me thinking, there are a lot of different ways to interpret the ideas brought up by it.

"Intuition is a method of feeling one's way intellectually into the inner heart of a thing, in order to locate what is unique and inexpressible in it. If there is a way of grasping a reality in absolute rather than relative terms, of entering into it rather than taking up positions on it, of seizing hold of it without any translation or symbolism, then that way is metaphysics itself."

-Henri Bergson, Quoted in Ingo F. Walther, Rainer Metzger, Van Gogh: The Complete Paintings, 619. Slovenia: Taschen, 2001.

To me, (and I could be completely wrong, share your thoughts with comments) Part of what can be inferred from what Bergson is saying is that an expression that originates in the understanding of something through one's intuition is highly individual and subjective.

The ability to be awed by nature doesn't come from the material nature is comprised of, but from something inside us. The expression of reality or ideas is filtered through one's perception; spirit even, therefore the expression is a valuable legacy of the individual and the ideas/objects she is trying to express or was inspired by.