Artist’s Work as Meditation. The Influence of Practising Zen on the Creative Process

Przemysław Radwański, Ph.D.
(Collegium of Art Education, The Maria Grzegorzewska University, Warsaw)

Currently, we tend to perceive creation as a process, an act, or an up-to-date response of a changing man to a changing reality. It is more and more difficult to maintain an illusion of stability, persistence and unchangeability of the world. We also notice that it is the state of mind that determines perception, action, sense and effectiveness; it is the state of mind that decides what trace we will leave in the only contact with reality that is available to us: in a given moment. This means moving away from the traditional paradigm of the West, where the work of an artist is considered from the perspective of techne, skills and effect – the multiplication of goods. More than one hundred years of reception of Zen Buddhism and Japanese art in the Western world contributed to this change of perspective. This influence can be felt still today.