COMMUNITY
CULTURE
THE PRACTICE OF LIVING
Quote from the article:
"Direct experience comes from nature and man interacting with each other. In this interaction, human energy gathers, is released, dammed up, frustrated and victorious. There are rhythmic beats of want and fulfillment, pulses of doing and being withheld from doing."
This quote explains how experience is essential to our creative practice. Experience with our environment and other human beings makes our work vital and practical to the world.
This quote pertains to how I think of my creative practice through community arts. As a community arts major, I have learned that my work is produced by the community that I am working with. There is no question of what can be produced by 'the self' but by 'the whole.' Before working with a community, I must investigate their culture and history.
As a community artist, my goal is to inspire and teach the community. Therefore, the experience and interaction with others is art itself. The art lives though the connectivity of learning and teaching among the community.
FOOD AS A COMMUNITY ART
A human being (like many other living beings), food is the essential source of survival. When I think of a man interacting with nature, I think of man satisfying his stomach. From a single dish, we can learn the history, culture, and place of origin of that particular dish. Food and community can be art through the experience of taste, learning, and teaching.
