Episode 5 : Art in Nature -

Musician 00:09

Hey Everybody. Welcome to another episode of Stream of Coffeeness.

Writer 00:14

I’m The Writer.

Musician 00:16

I’m The Musician.

Writer 00:18

And welcome.

Musician 00:19

Welcome. Cheers, everyone.

Writer 00:21

Cheers.

Musician 00:22

Grab some coffee. Settle in.

Writer 00:34

Yeah, that’s our jam. We love it.

Stream of Coffeeness 00:34

Musician 00:34

And as we continue to talk about art, or, you know, everything and nothing, something in between, I think that “something” inevitably becomes art. For us. Like, natural for us to talk about art. For today, I wonder, is it humans that create art? Or is it just nature that creates art. We’re a part of artistic creation itself. Like, in nature, is there just art that happens and we then are inspired to be a part of that natural process of creating art. That’s why we’re driven to create this art because of say the beauty of a sunset or a spider’s web or waterfalls or things that are beautiful in nature. Is nature creating art? And we’re then inspired by that to create our own art? Or?

Writer 01:42

Or is it that…

Musician 01:43

Is it just a human [thing]? Yeah.

Writer 01:45

…every living, breathing person or nature or animal. We all have a, perhaps a creative impulse inside of all of us that streams through our blood or through the wind, through the water.

Musician 02:02

I believe that it’s natural, like it’s a part of love. There’s, there’s a love that you have for life, the universe and everything that that you feel the most in art and nature, and spirituality and music and love and there’s these things that I sort of gravitate towards naturally in my life. I feel like those are the things that the more you give to them, the more they give back. And that seems like that’s nature saying yes to you and your your love and your heart like that, when you show up to life and give, it gives back to you.

Writer 02:02

Oh my gosh. That’s so beautiful. So beautifully said.

Musician 02:53

Like music is one big one that I find the more you give, the more it gives back. The more you get involved with music, the more you applaud, the more you dance, the more you sort of freak out because music is so good.

Writer 03:10

Freak out.

Musician 03:10

The better the music gets, the better that the enjoyment and it’s a it’s a vibe that 10 people listening to a song 100 people listening to you know a concert, you know, 1000s of people listening to music, amplifies and, and ups the game. So then I wonder if then nature has that artistic quality within it. And that’s why it’s so deep inside of us and why we can feel it and why we resonate. Like we were talking about last episode: Do you need inspiration to create art? And in this topic, I’m saying that I still believe that the inspiration already exists within us naturally.

Writer 04:01

If in nature, if there’s an intelligence within nature that’s moving…

Musician 04:07

Yes.

Writer 04:08

…everything into creation into being. And if we also have an intelligence that is inside of us, deep inside of us, too. It’s got to be the same intelligence, right?

Musician 04:24

The Fibonacci sequence.

Writer 04:25

Yes. Yes.

Musician 04:26

Our fingers are representative of the Fibonacci sequence, if you break down the math of the digits of our hands and how we grow and how plants grow in the sequence, and how things tend to go to this golden ratio and…

Writer 04:40

The golden ratio, yes.

Musician 04:43

If it’s already there, and we’re just a part of it that we’re responding to our natural impulse and a vibration, an artistic vibration and you’re either blissfully unaware of it, or sort of, blissfully aware of it like there’s there’s a duality, a balance to say that you can scientifically study it and, or you can just get it from the streets or you just go to school and learn how to be an artist or just do art. And just, those two people can end up with the same amazing, amazing-ness to their art like Banksy versus, you know, a classically studied master. It all doesn’t matter at the eye of the beholder. What effect your art has on other people. And the same with nature could walk by something and someone sees beauty and other person just sees a flower or waterfall or a spiderweb. So is the art just in nature, I don’t know. I once bought a ticket to a movie. And I had the ticket to the movie. And I was sitting outside waiting for you know to go in. And I saw this spider creating a web. And it had just begun with the first few strands and then it was making the outer. Like it goes on the outside. And it was making the outer edges of the web. And I didn’t go to see the movie. I sat there for over an hour watching the spider create the web and I got my money back.

Writer 06:16

That is the best movie. Right there. The director was there the producer, the main star. And the audience, my Errric.

Musician 06:32

I wonder if the spider knew that I was watching. He was making it better. He’s like, Oh my god, I gotta do a good job. This guy’s watching me.

Writer 06:40

The spider has like six more eyes than you right? So, it definitely saw you. I mean, it’s such a big topic that, this one, because if it just is art, like it’s happening in nature. But then like you were talking about Andy Goldsworthy? He takes it to a new level.

Musician 06:44

6000 more eyes. I love there’s a movie River And Tides, and it shows his process and he goes and does art with leaves, or ice, or rocks, or just he takes nature and puts it into artistic formation.

Writer 07:26

Oh, so it’s like a symbiosis.

Musician 07:30

Yeah, like, who’s, who’s the greater artists that the one who paints the apple, or the apple itself? Like you’re the one who has, you know, the flower arrangement or the you know, the one that takes the picture of the flower arrangement. It’s almost like how we talk about a fractal or inception, where there’s art inside of art inside of art. And maybe at the core, we ourselves are giving back artistically, to that art that created us.

Writer 08:04

Oh. Yes, yes. There’s definitely a birth that happens in every time we create something. And then the little birth is happening all the time. And the new leaf that comes in the spring or…

Musician 08:21

Birth and rebirth.

Writer 08:23

Over and over and over. And so much every day.

Musician 08:28

Like birds.

Writer 08:29

It’s like we’re given birth, like just by opening our eyes to new day.

Musician 08:34

Birds singing, you know, after the rain or to start the day. There’s this beautiful music in nature. And so then, here as as human beings, we’ve created all these instruments and create our music. You know, maybe initially back in the day we were trying to emulate birds or the sound of the rippling river or you know, just the sounds of nature.

Writer 09:04

The wind moving tree branches and all the like the leaves on it, I love that sound.

Musician 09:10

There is an art to noise. The futurist composer, in the 1920s Luigi Russolo was a musician and created a manifesto called The Art of Noise. And he was saying that all noise in in the world is art. That noise is art and can be music and can be like used. This is it’s such an outdated concept now, because all of our music uses any sound, anything, I mean, everything is valid sampling is just it’s everything. All noise and all forms of sound that could be possible get put into our music these days. But back then it was just violins and guitars and drums and certain instruments like that you could those were musical instrument and everything else was just noise. And he sort of broke the barrier and said, No, there’s more to it. It’s an Art of Noise art of music, and that’s the band Art of Noise is giving thanks to Luigi Russolo for saying that we could use any noise we wanted in our art, in our music. So there again, is it that we are the only ones that create music? Or is there perfect music out there in nature with the birds and wind? Rivers? And.

Writer 10:29

Oh, definitely. We hear it when were, you know, at the creek or a waterfall.

Musician 10:36

Some hear it.

Writer 10:37

We hear it like, I mean a car honking.

Musician 10:41

Yeah. Or like the gears turning.

Writer 10:44

Yeah. Like I remember you one time telling me that when you’re cooking, sometimes when you’re listening to music, you’ll chop your vegetables, like to the sound, the beat of the whatever you’re listening to.

Musician 10:57

Like Stomp.

Writer 11:00

You’ll get into and you’ll make music with the knifes as you cut.

Musician 11:04

Or you know, even something silly, like a fart. But then.

Writer 11:09

So musical.

Musician 11:10

Weird Al Yankovic has put those in his song, he had a guy that used to do percussion for him, that would make fart noises with his hands. And that was the beat. So, the fart of noise.

Writer 11:30

Maybe a lot of the art that we create, in our days, and our nights, aside the art that happens in nature, maybe part of it happens so we can just become in tune with it. Like in tune with this frequency.

Musician 11:52

I feel that.

Writer 11:53

I think it really helps. I know, it helps me like personally,

Musician 11:57

Well.

Writer 11:57

Then I’ll feel a bit lost or something in myself. And then I’ll create some kind of art and I’ll feel a big sense of concentration and focus. And then I just feel clear in myself. And connected.

Musician 12:15

Well it’s a great word you used frequency, like vibration. You know people talk about vibes or you know feeling the vibration, and getting down with things. And that’s why I’m, I’m curious then about if that vibration, or that frequency or that harmony just comes from nature itself. And we actually, like you said, feel like we lock into that. And we find that within ourselves that that we’re really getting to know ourselves better.

Writer 12:18

Yeah. Yeah. It’s so powerful. Isn’t that what that is anyway? Like that, kind of that vibration that we feel inside when we feel passionate or enthusiastic about something. And we tune into that.

Musician 13:07

Yeah.

Writer 13:07

And we do it or move closer towards it.

Musician 13:10

Yeah.

Writer 13:11

Whatever it be. And then what? I mean…

Musician 13:14

Do art. Make good art. If you feel anything we’re saying either go out to nature and get your inspiration or just lay it down. You’ve already got it inside you go go make music, go make art.

Writer 13:18

Yeah. At that point. I mean, even though I say “and then what?” But at that point, when you’re in it, it doesn’t even matter the “and then and then and then what?” because you’re just in it, you’re in it, you’re in the flow, you’re in the zone, you’re in the passion and passionate enthusiasm. You’re in your curiosity, you’re in that place of listening inside of yourself for what is next.

Musician 14:00

Sort of talking about last episode, the “do you need inspiration for art?” And if we agree that it’s a no, then someone like Austin Kleon, saying, you know, he say, his first book was Steal Like An Artist, but then his other ones, Make It Work and show your work. And he was just trying to say it’s something you have to do like you just keep going like do it, do it, do it. And it’ll get better. It’ll, you’ll, you’ll feel it. You’ll gain more inspiration, you’ll you’ll fine tune everything from actually just getting into it. So, some people would say, Oh, I’m uninspired and I don’t feel like doing it. And maybe that’s irrelevant or unimportant. Your job wants you to be productive. They sit you down nine to five, 40 hours a week and make you focus and do the work. And if you were that, if you were that relentless of a boss to yourself?

Writer 14:58

Oh yeah.

Musician 14:59

If you boss your self to be like that and get down and get get to it. Make the art.

Writer 15:03

Be an art boss.

Musician 15:06

That yeah, you wouldn’t need necessarily inspiration. It’d be great if you found inspiration, but we are already, we already have it within us. So just just release it by putting the paper to the pen. Putting hands on the instruments or…

Writer 15:22

Or like that beautiful Rumi quote that says, If you want to access you know, love, then remove all the barriers. If you’re not feeling inspired to create something, or if you’re not feeling productive, then ask yourself.

Musician 15:39

Remove.

Writer 15:39

What is in the way of that, like, what do I need to let go of? Or surrender?

Musician 15:47

I forget if it was Hemingway, or why some artists drink so much. Or why some musicians take drugs or removing the barriers and feeling so uninhibited. They just go forth bravely and with a you know, reckless abandon, like go to the most artistic adventures, because there’s there’s nothing in the way.

Writer 16:11

Damn. If it was that easy all the time, huh?

Musician 16:16

But then yeah, you can’t that’s a crutch. So you can’t like lean on the alcohol or the drugs or whatever I think you have to find it within yourself, because.

Writer 16:25

Yeah. I don’t know who talked about it, or who brought it up first. But they said in order to become a brilliant artist, you had to draw 10,000 shitty, totally shitty drawings. Maybe that’s what we need to do to remove our barriers.

Musician 16:45

And you have to number them. 1. 2. 3. You have to number each piece of art. And once you hit 10,000, it’ll be good.

Writer 16:56

Exactly 10,000.

Musician 16:58

99,999 shit pieces of art. And one good one.

Writer 17:05

Keep going.

Musician 17:08

The only thing in the way of your best art 99,999.

Writer 17:14

And if you’re a writer than that’s how many pages you have to write.

Musician 17:19

Sorry 9,999. Don’t let the math get in the way. Just do it.

Writer 17:25

That’s a barrier.

Musician 17:26

And maybe that’s a good thing to note too that even some of the things that you adulate yourself, you know, oh my god, this is so amazing. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. Maybe that ego gets in the way of creating something even better, because you go oh, that’s me peaking? Oh, that’s the best I could do. And it’s not even close.

Writer 17:46

We have no idea. Pretty much until we take our last breath. We have no idea . We’re still always working towards our potential. Our potential is always growing. And it’s so fluctuates so much because just like we have good days and bad days as people. Our art is also gonna go through that too sometimes.

Musician 18:10

Yeah, and I think that’s another something within the topic we’re talking about like don’t worry look to art. Nature finds a way. You see a little blade of grass growing out of a crack in the in the cement you think that…

Writer 18:24

I love when you see that.

Musician 18:25

…you’ve covered the forest but the forest is like “no we got we got this” and we’ll just break through and find a way to create more.

Writer 18:32

Oh my gosh, I just want to bow to those little plants that come up through the sidewalk. They’re just like “Fuck Yeah! Like I’m here! I’m doing this!”

Musician 18:48

That’s that like removing the barriers like you said I think that some people feel that they feel stifled by the cement and then they get so happy when they blossom and break through and come out. You know your development as a human some of your best moments feel like they break you, like metamorphosis.

Writer 19:07

Break you open.

Musician 19:07

Like a cocoon like you break out and become that butterfly that great quote from Illusions by Richard Bach. What is the caterpillar to one, to The Master is actually a butterfly. I’d have to look up the exact quote. But yeah, in in most people they would see the caterpillar and the master sees the butterfly and breaks the mold and makes it as beautiful as it could be. Here again maybe art…

Writer 19:19

Cheers.

Musician 19:24

It does that. Cheers I gotta say my coffee has never been hotter. I have this new Yeti mug. And.

Writer 19:52

It’s so wonderful.

Musician 19:53

I can’t believe normally 20 minutes in, my coffee would be just dead cold. But this stuff it feels like I just poured it, it’s hot.

Writer 20:01

It’s so hot. Yetis are expensive. They’re worth it. I just thought of this time when I took a painting class, and our teacher took us all into the museum where the school is at and shared some of the art pieces with us. And we were just talking about them. And there was this one, it was huge, it was massive. And they were birds that were like, bloody wings ripped off. It was a really disturbing painting. And so we were all talking about it. And I don’t know, it just was disturbing. And so I mean, is that art?You know what I mean? Like is the nature, the hard things that happen in nature, which is all the time is that art?

Musician 20:58

In the art of life, your your last piece is your death. First piece is your birth. And the last piece is your death and everything in between is your compendium of work. The art of your life. But we talked about this, too is is art destructive? Is there destruction in art or is it all creation? Or is it destruction? And on some level, you do have to destroy things.

Writer 21:27

I guess it depends how it happened. Like, in my eyes. If something happened in a violent way, I wouldn’t necessarily, like if a wing was ripped off of a bird in a really mean violent way from another animal. I don’t really see that as beautiful. And I definitely don’t see it as artistic, like an artistic creation because, I don’t know.

Musician 21:54

Well.

Writer 21:55

But if it was done in a different way, like.

Musician 21:58

But then in our nature, is there some beauty to the love in our heart that we see the violence as abhorrent or distasteful? Is there some beauty to the mechanisms? That don’t we consider the most violent people and the most like the worst serial killers, the ones that feel nothing when they see this, this violence, destruction, and when they do these acts, when they don’t, they don’t feel the remorse or the pain or, and we consider that to be really horrible. That they’re so disconnected, they don’t even. So, the fact that you have this loving heart that sees it and knows that it’s violent or disturbing. There’s some beauty to the way you’re you’re created to know the love in your heart knows. And so some people are like a mirror, or some artists are a mirror reflection, showing the worst parts of of nature back to us. And we then take that in to see the world more clearly. And then know we would want it to be different. We would want to make change and we’re called to action. Maybe.

Writer 23:09

Yeah.

Musician 23:10

Maybe something there.

Writer 23:12

And I know that this might have taken a little turn. But it makes me think of when my sister who passed recently, her husband, when he got her ashes, he put my sister’s ashes on along the stream of his tears on its face and then went to the ocean and went surfing. And that is both beautiful and sad. I felt

Musician 23:42

Yeah.

Writer 23:44

And a big connection.

Musician 23:45

I think it’s not as much in our culture, maybe in New Orleans, but I think in other cultures they have more reverence or interaction or ways that they honor the dead. And that they have communication with the dead and and they they have a relationship with death, things like that, that we don’t have. I think we’re… Sure. So true. We kind of go to the wake one day and there’s a little stone that then represents that person and it’s and it’s : move on with life. Where in ceremony like you had just mentioned but the ashes somebody can touch and feel more in touch with the passing.

Writer 24:34

Yeah.

Musician 24:35

Ritual. Rituals that actually touch.

Writer 24:38

Yeah.

Musician 24:39

Connect themselves to the people.

Writer 24:43

Yeah, for sure. But then the thing we saw about mushrooms recently Fantastic Fungi on Netflix. It’s It’s weird how beautiful all the mushrooms are but so many of them are growing from death and poop. That’s right.

Musician 24:57

And growing from these things that aren’t beautiful.

Writer 24:59

Yeah.

Musician 25:00

But they, they grow into these beautiful things.

Writer 25:03

Yeah, that was, that’s such a good show. It’s amazing that that whole show, I want to watch it again.

Musician 25:13

It was good.

Writer 25:15

I guess it was just a movie.

Musician 25:17

Like a documentary.

Writer 25:19

Yeah.

Musician 25:21

The art of the mushrooms. One of the parts of, we’re talking about vibration and connection, is how there’s these mycelium networks that are all interconnected. And they’re like a neural network or like a brain network, and they’re all connected too.

Writer 25:37

Oh, it’s so amazing.

Musician 25:37

Nature is talking to itself through these networks that are almost more fascinating than the internet or our constructs.

Writer 25:47

That is definitely art. If we were to see that underneath… …the Earth’s surface. Ah, the beauty it would look just like our brain I know it would. With all the nerve tributaries and synapses and everything traveling and connecting and growing. Even ones that they’re still growing just like mycelium. So beautiful.

Musician 25:52

Oh, wow. Cheers.

Writer 26:20

Cheers.

Musician 26:20

The beauty of nature.

Writer 26:23

To the beauty of nature.

Musician 26:24

I’m wondering if if nature creates art, not just when you give a monkey a paintbrush, or there’s those elephants that can paint? Yeah, I don’t think that it’s proving the point by having animals create art in the way that we do. They’ll take penguins and have them walk through paint, and then they’ll walk on the canvas and then they’ll sell that as art. So I don’t know if it’s that nature creates the art the same way that we do. And I would say more that we’re trying to get down with nature when we create art. It was the quote that you had.

Writer 27:06

Oh, yeah, I’ll grab it. It’s right here.

Musician 27:10

It’s a quote you had about nature and art.

Writer 27:12

“Art is contemplation. It is the pleasure of the mind which searches into nature and which there devines the spirit of which nature herself is animated.” And that was Auguste Rodin.

Musician 27:28

Rodin.

Writer 27:28

Rodin. There’s a few good ones here, Vincent van Gogh said, “I have nature and art and poetry. And if that is not enough, what is enough?”

Musician 27:44

Word.

Writer 27:46

Yeah.

Musician 27:46

That’s like me. Love and nature and music and art and spirituality. There’s not much more. I would challenge people to find things that you give to them. And they give back to you. There’s it’s not much like nature. If you give water it would give you plants and beauty and flowers and things. And the more you feed these things, the more they give back to you. Feed your art.

Writer 28:14

Oh, here’s another quote by Edvard Munch, “Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye, it also includes the inner pictures of the soul.”

Musician 28:25

Like you said about seeing inside the mycelium networks or inside of our brain is a beautiful fractal, a beautiful picture. Not to condone the use of psychedelics. But one time on psychedelics, I went in a room and turned off the lights and closed my eyes and I there was no sound. And I lie there for hours, just myself. And I could see and hear inside myself and it was this beautiful, beautiful place. The inner fractal that speaks to us. If like we’re talking about if nature creates art, we are this this myriad of cells that are that are growing and re rebirth, death and rebirth of cells inside you and your cells keep growing and changing every seven years. You’ve cast off so much dead skin and debris generated so many cells that you’re a totally different person. So there’s this constant beautiful creation inside of us that maybe we need to speak to the world about through our art and you need to be able to find your center.

Writer 29:42

I was having a good day until that painting and I was like, inspired then I saw that.

Musician 29:42

And find your inner peace find your place that that is so beautiful inside you that when you show it to others it’s not the disturbing picture of birds with broken wings. That teacher just really. Like traumatic.

Writer 29:42

That’s delicious.

Musician 30:10

Find your beautiful place inside and show it to the world.

Writer 30:13

I wonder if Edvard Munch, he said that about his picture of his soul. So that’s that painting called The Scream. That was his soul. Like, whatever he was going through.

Musician 30:31

Wow.

Writer 30:32

In that moment.

Musician 30:35

It is beautiful though.

Writer 30:36

It really is. I mean, we could all relate to it. For sure. At one point or another.

Musician 30:45

Did you want to scream right now?

Writer 30:46

Yeah.

Musician 30:47

Don’t do it. Everybody turn down your radios. <screams>

Writer 30:58

Oh, the cat lifted her head like “Is everything okay?” Today, what would your painting look like Errric of the inside of your soul?

Musician 31:09

It would be a little lazy and sleepy. I got my booster vaccination yesterday and I think it’s I think it’s messing with me a little.

Writer 31:21

Do you still feel it?

Musician 31:22

I can definitely feel my arm is sore.

Writer 31:25

Yeah,

Musician 31:25

But I feel a little low energy. Low key.

Writer 31:30

Yeah, low key is nice. We’ve been able to be low key today. That’s good.

Musician 31:35

I feel like binging some anime.

Writer 31:38

So fun. What would my painting looks like today? It would look like latke potato pancake. And it would look like snuggles and love and cats. What else would be in there? Some laundry.

Musician 32:07

A big pile of laundry.

Writer 32:09

And soon to be Greek cheese spiral with hot pepper jelly.

Musician 32:20