By Thibault Jacquot-Paratte
Sometimes (often)
we draw, together with my daughter
and she'll chose which color she wants me to draw with
thrust it into my hands
point out a spot on the paper
and say “tan”
(“tan” means “there”)
designating thus
which part of the blank slate she wants filled
where she wants to see the pale void
become mystified with expression
– lively –
pierced through and through
from an unknown path
to a place bright from memories,
“tan”, “there”, means to go forwards
with colors forcibly given
onto
she wants me to break stillness
to put before her
shapes of things
objects, abstract lines
(she likes those a lot),
animals,
at times, she'll request a cat and say “meow meow”
then I draw a cat for her
if she wants a dog she'll say “woof woof”
the rest of the time,
she's content to be surprised
and not to know
or not even to understand what all my circles and lines mean
she just wants something to happen
we get hungry at all ages
infancy, the golden years of elderly sunset
we just want emptiness filled
Nous dessinons ensemble
Parfois (souvent)
nous dessinons ensemble, avec ma fille
et elle décide de la couleur avec laquelle elle veut que je dessine
l'enfonce dans ma main
montre du doigt un coin sur le papier
et dit « tän »
(« tän » ça veut dire « là »)
désignant ainsi quelle part de la page blanche elle veut combler
où elle veut voir le pâle néant
d'expressif se mystifier
– vivace –
transpercé de part en part
depuis un sentier inconnu
vers un lieu vif de souvenirs
« tän », « là », signifie aller de l'avant
avec des couleurs données, imposées
sur
elle veut que je brise l'immobilité
mettre devant elle
les formes des choses
objets, lignes abstraites
(elle les aime beaucoup, celles-là),
animaux
parfois elle demandera un chat et dira « miaou miaou »
puis je lui dessinerai un chat
si elle veut un chien, elle dira « wouf wouf »
le reste du temps,
elle est contente de se laisser surprendre
et de ne pas savoir
ou de ne même pas comprendre ce que tous mes cercles
et mes lignes signifient
elle veut juste que quelque chose se produise
l'on a faim à tout âge
l'enfance, les années dorées d'un couchant aîné
l'on veut juste que le vide soit comblé
The Importance of Arts, Culture & The Creative Process
This question is almost too big for a short answer. In some ways we can say that the creative process is out very survival instinct at work. In order to make tools, better tools, discover the uses of things around us, we need the creative process. Like solving a puzzle. What we call arts and culture, is the manifestation of this survival instinct. Oftentimes information, logic, and the likes, come across much more easily through artistic creations than simple information. Just like understanding science perhaps more "instinctively" through an experiment than through an equation (at first, in any case). We transmit facts, ideas, historical realities, philosophical notions, emotions, much better through arts.
What was the inspiration for your creative work?
In part, to write the book I would want to read, play the music I would want to listen to. Secondly also to play a part in social emulation. The passing of ideas, the provocation of thought, opening debate... I suppose that's what I'm best at, and I find it's best done through the arts. You could say that I am in what we'd call "engaged art" ("art engagé"), though I also try to remember that there is no problem in creating something "fun" just because it is "fun". That being said, even when I write something "just fun", I still feel like it has something to contribute to the world.
Tell us something about the natural world that you love and don’t wish to lose. What are your thoughts on the kind of world we are leaving for the next generation?
This is again a very large question. In a way, I feel like we've already lost a lot of mystery about the world. Mystery in the richness and vastness of nature. Every day, plant and animal species disappear, ecosystems die off (e.g. with disertification). As the planet becomes weak, we all become weaker; it used to be normal to have -30 temperatures in the winter, now people "need" their hand-warmers by +1, or just -5. I feel like we are losing our adaptability; this means also our ability to accept the world as it is, and put ourselves aside. say "I'm cold, but that's the way the world is". An ability to not-conceive of ourselves as the center of attention, but to accept that we are subject to the world. I think it's healthy to be set aside from time to time. To be subject by the vastness and the mystery of the world. It's not healthy to be "in control" all the time. But of course the one thing I hope we won't lose is life itself. For us, and the species living in our time that is. It would be terrible to see everything we have now burn away, leaving a desolate landscape only fit for a few extremophiles.
