The Great Acting Blog: “A Celebration Of The Imagination”

The Great Acting Blog: “A Celebration Of The Imagination”

The following are basically diverse statements, which suggest that, yes, the imagination is the source of our creativity, of creating something entirely new, but that it also affects how we perceive what is already in existence: those who work on their imaginations may perceive more than those who do not. Further, our imaginations may supply us with answers so long as we don’t force the process. And, as Tom Waits tells us, the imagination does need some reality if it is to function well.

This post is intended as ode to the imagination, a celebration of it, and a defence of it’s strangeness. After all, we’re living in an era which has convinced itself that one can become an artist simply by being civilised and reading a book and then following the steps, that the imagination is not required – but this is simply not true…

“Your true creative powers lie in your imagination.” David Mamet

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.” William Blake

“Mostly I straddle reality and imagination. My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.” Tom Waits

“Practice the precept: find without seeking.” Robert Bresson

“I paint what cannot be photographed, that which comes from the imagination or from dreams, or from an unconscious drive.” Man Ray

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