Interrelationships of Literature, Visual Arts,

¶ … Interrelationships of literature, visual arts, music, and film There is very little of the arts that is not somehow interconnected. This is certainly to be demonstrated, at the very least, in the fact that many writers are also visual artists, or musicians, or directors, or any combination of the four. Certainly there would be very little of one discipline without the other since many of them rely on the skills of the other to create a truly finished product.

However, the interconnectedness almost has a layering effect on the arts since, though their creation is often interdependent, there are also many examples of one genre being directly inspired or actually created about something of another medium. Examples of great literature often utilize other media either as the basis of a story, or as the main inspiration for a story. This creates an interwoven community of art and artists that perpetuates each other's work.

One reasonable explanation of this is how readily a work of art can be manipulated to be highly symbolic while still retaining attractively mundane surface features. If a painter, for instance, is extraordinarily moved by a poem he recently read, he could be inspired to then create a visual representation either of that poem or inspired by that poem. Let's take Robert Frost's "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" for example.

Our painter could be so inspired by the simple, yet vivid imagery in the poem that he is moved to paint the scene in a literal fashion: a man alight a carriage pulled by an impatient horse, stopped in the snow between a frozen lake and dark woods, the man hypnotized by the falling snow.

Or he could be inspired by the message in any number of ways and decide to paint a figurative representation; a dark funeral scene with the beautiful wife, pregnant and with two young children by her side representing the promises broken by his passing. Perhaps the family is just returning home in their black crepe to find that the landlord is having their belongings removed for non-payment since the dead father and husband can no longer provide for his family.

Since any medium is so very open to interpretation, the very ambiguity and slipperiness of language or figurative art can't help but to keep moving those who see and relate to the piece. The idea of the observer and the artist both relating in some way to the piece is another key to understanding how inseparable and intertwined the arts are. Some movements emerge simultaneously in two genres. Surrealism, for example was born through both visual arts and literature during the same period.

It seems natural for a new genre or movement to appear at the same time since there are usually dominant outside factors that heavily influence the arts occurring that are driving the minds and hearts of the artists. Most obvious of the influences that would affect entire communities is war. The impact of war has driven the development of many movements as a reaction to the human horrors that are exposed during major conflict.

Since the military is not particularly concerned about the occupational leanings of a soldier prior to their service, many writers, musicians, and artists found themselves forced to don uniforms and serve their country in extremely dangerous and ultimately life-altering ways. Though there are always exceptions to the rule, for the most part artists tend to be quite resistant to being a conformist. Many times artists spend much of their energy expressing their displeasure for the establishment in their work and in their every day life.

With this in mind it is really no surprise that many artists come out of war deeply moved, often scarred. The experiences that they witness, or are forced to act in, easily serve as deeply profound inspiration for their art.

Artists often possess an uncanny ability to analyze and manipulate these experiences into an expression that speaks to the masses of the human condition, and they are usually quite possessed of their experiences until they can no longer handle the haunting images and they use their medium to express their emotions over the situation. The art of creating itself often serves as catharsis for the artist himself, and ends in a piece that communicates both a uniquely powerful experience, and one that the audience can relate to and understand.

Ultimately a war affects everyone in the community of the concerned parties, and as such it will touch and inspire artists of every medium, which results in certain movements and common themes being woven throughout the poetry, fiction, screenplays, paintings, symphonies, etc., of the time. Great art is also very much inspired by ideas as well as events. Many artists truly thrive on the intellectual static of debate and the pursuit of knowledge.

Time after time we can see a congregation of artists in one place who all deliberately interact with one another, working to inspire and stimulate each other. Major examples of this kind of phenomenon would be the Left Bank artists, who, though most commonly associated with writers, were composed of artists of all kinds who spent their days completely immersed in their work and their nights drinking and bouncing ideas off one another in between intellectual, or quite base conversation.

This creates an atmosphere of high creative energy that they all feed off of. Once person's success is the success of all of them to effect a change or movement from their one tiny place on the globe. Greenwich Village in the 1960s is also a good example of this kind of congregation and shared creativity. Certainly none of the arts were the same after these expatriates and intellectuals began to manipulate the landscape of all their respective medium and genres.

Lastly, the very subjective experience of high emotion is another common feature of many artists in all media. This isn't to say that every poet and musician experience their love in the same way, but the assertion is that these emotions are often.