Aww, you thought inspiration was meant to be nice... cute

muses

I’ve been looking into connection and what makes it so important for about seven years, love for three, and the concept of muses for close to two.

For some reason, I see them all on the same vertex - some locus around perspective, growth, and two-body dynamics.

These last two weeks, I managed to break through a creative block that’s held me back for close to a year.

I was worried about an installation going out (Villain series); it’s a bit provocative, dirty, and the art world is quite judgmental and tame when it comes to this stuff.

I reached out to professionals in the industry, people I knew, and read books, but nothing got me through it.

Me when nobody could figure out what was wrong with my practice

I went back to my spiritual art project, the muses.

The Ancient Greeks had a few practices I love. They had female leaders within their spiritual system (Pythia), a nice balance to the male leadership of politics and war. Equally, they placed creativity in the hands of female energy, devoting all works of art and philosophy to a feminine pantheon of nine muses.

I wrote letters to them, meditated, made paintings to commemorate them, and was left with some ideas that freed me up.

1. Art belongs to the outsiders - the greatest ideas start at the edge, then fold inwards through those less creative and more socially driven (scalpers and copycats).

2. Art is meant to provoke feelings; disgust is as valuable as desire - it is the perspective that is important. The more unique the perspective, the harder it is to communicate.

3. For Art to be more important than anything else, it cannot answer to anything else. It must sit outside (and often above) culture, politics, and economics to shed light on them.

Before

After (3 hours - Soho)

The installation video will be on IG this week. The install is still in development, but the concept seems to work well, and should be show-ready by EoY.

I also realised after putting out the installation, that I am nowhere near the edge. I have a long way to go and a very good boat to get there.

Over the next 12 weeks, I’ll be looking at the nine muses, their role historically, their role in the modern world, and what I can learn from working with this idea to improve my own work.

I’ll give the spiritual as well as the scientific ideas behind the practices, and share the work I’m doing myself. If I keep home running stuff like I have done the last two weeks, just copy my roadmap. If I spend all my coins and become homeless, do not follow.

Along with my deep process, I’m going to try and share a little more about my headspace in here too; right or wrong, it’s going to be tough, so bare with me.

I will be very honest, as may already be clear, I don’t know what I’m doing, but it seems to be working…

If you’re interested in inspiration, magick, spiritual devotion, the psychology of religion, muses, soul mates, sex, power, fear, and all the messiness that comes from mixing this stuff to make art.

I think the next few weeks will be interesting.

There is a single guiding question to the project, which may be helpful to write down or answer yourself on a piece of paper.

I imagine having these nine semi-deities on my side when I ask it, and keep it next to my computer.

What do I need help with right now?

In keeping with Greek tradition, this issue and series is devoted to the nine muses, may they help it blossom and aid those that need it, and may they guide it to the people that need it most.

Hope you enjoy the rabbit hole

Love you loads

Russ

Poets corner

When challenged to study the muses I suddenly spit out a dummy

I was writing before
I knew they were there
and I’ll be writing long after
they’ll be never gone
Have I the permission
to get something finished
without their eyes prying on all
that I do and all that is done?

- Thomas May

p.s letters for paid subscribers!