A Grove of Ashes and Aspens

Now Playing: Nightfall by Blind Guardian

So as an artist, there are a few things to consider in one’s approach to creation. (I will make a note here that within the realm of music, my area of expertise, both performance and composition are acts of creation. I will expand on this later.) One aspect, yes, is the intention with which one approaches the art. Intention always matters in art, as it is the reason we, as artists, create. Other factors also include audience and craft choices found within the medium. But one of the most important aspects of creation is that of collaboration. Art is an inherently collaborative experience. Let’s expand on all these aspects.

Now, I will be looking at this through the lens of music, as that is my area of expertise, as I’ve already said. That is where the bulk of my artistic experience lies. But what do I mean by both the composition and performance of music being an act of creation? Composition is obvious, but performance is more nuanced. Isn’t performance just reading what’s on the page or just playing what someone else told you to write? Well, yes and no. On one hand, yes, you’re often just playing something that was written, often (though not always) with someone else’s intentions to consider. But on the other hand, performance is an opportunity to take a work and make it your own. (This is where an element of collaboration comes in. We will come back to this later.) It’s an opportunity to put your own spin on it. If it’s your own work, it’s a chance for you, as the mind behind the work, to put your intentions behind the work into the world.

Now, intention and interpretation are both equally important when it comes to the creation of art. They are both collaborative to art in a way, with the interpretation creating a new layer of meaning to the art on a personal level.

Intention in art will shape how someone makes it. The art will look different if the person behind it is intending it to be for children, or for young adults, or for people in their 60s, or for specific tastes regardless of age, or if they’re wanting to discuss pagan topics or Christian topics or politics or dragons or whatever else. Those intentions will shape how the art sounds or looks, as well as how it will come across to audiences. But each person will also take something different from each piece of art. It’s a unique way of collaborating that isn’t often considered as collaboration, because “collaboration” within the realm of art is often just seen as being within the realm of composing or writing or performance. But the way people interpret and take from a piece of art is just as much a part of the art as the creation of the art.

Collaboration is a particularly important part of art, especially with the way it connects people. Art as a form of communication is a mix of intention and interpretation, with the creation coming from both sides, and it’s worth considering how it comes together in the world of music especially.