Inspiration, Art, and the Examined Life

Catalog description

Has a book ever knocked you out? Has a story stuck with you for years? Has an image stopped you cold? Are you changed by these encounters? This course explores, examines, and activates the elusive and subjective motor for creative work. It begins with material that has directly impacted the professor's life and work as a theater artist. Later, students will share igniting materials from their own experiences. The aim: to incite the imagination, culminating in an original work. Where do you turn for inspiration? Can you engage your fears in pursuit of your goals? How do you flip your script to make progress? Departure points include artists, writers, filmmakers, thinkers, and theater makers such as Judith Malina, Allen Ginsberg, Art Spiegelman, Francis Bacon, Edmund White, Anne Carson, David Markson, Italo Calvino, Pedro Almodovar, Jean Genet, Andy Goldsworthy, Banksy, CG Jung, Franz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Patricia Peters, theoretical physicists, Black Lives Matter, and even occasional recipes. When it comes to inspiration, can a good meal change everything?