“Our era, without a doubt, prefers the image to the thing, the copy to the original, the representation to reality, the appearance to the being… For it, the only sacred thing is illusion, while the profane is truth. Moreover, the sacred becomes greater in her eyes as truth decreases and illusion increases, so much so that the height of illusion is for her the height of the sacred.

Feuerbach

The artist is a fundamental piece in any change of paradigm. His ability must focus on the metaphorical construction of other possible worlds. To activate the conscience of the spectator through example and active stimulus.

It’s time to take up social responsibility as an artist, to stop looking at your navel and take action. Art is a privileged field for experimentation, for the elaboration, proposal and activation of the ideas of a new paradigm. Art allows us to catalyse the essence of the individual and the collective, the circumstantial and the eternal, the particular and the universal. In art, as in life itself, there are no rules, no predetermined paths. In fact, it is radicalised authenticity that can epatheter universally. Art is an example for society in this sense, since it shapes manifestations of a common spirit through particular and risky experiences and visions. We are moved by the works of artists who have managed to find with courage their terrible and/or wonderful truth, which manages to crystallize the truth of their time.

The artist has to know how to find, work and sublimate the unifying essence. That which constitutes at the same time his own values and those of his fellow men. Perhaps that common essence is the “alma mundi” that the Greeks called or that “collective subconscious” that Jung renamed. Each of us contains and forms part of the essence (or “soul” that others would call) of our community, society or ecosystem. And I think that in these critical and decisive times any creator, beyond finding or connecting with the terrible part of his existence, should connect with the most lucid and life-giving part; being aware more than ever of what symbols he uses and in what direction he will perpetuate them as a legacy. Tautological and self-referential games are of little use now if a transgressive vision for the liberation of the individual (social or spiritual) is not being transmitted.

The marvellous thing about art is also that capacity to move from the most humble and insignificant, to convert an existential doubt into a universal affirmation.

Art works, moves, transcends, when it is made with the “truth” of the creator, however terrible it may be at times. True art is none other than that which is configured without lies or deception towards itself (even though we know that its language is that of lies, artifices and illusions!) This happens with all other works and fields of life. This is why art can serve as an example or operate as a pilot fish for the pending revolution: the one where each individual chooses with full freedom and responsibility the path dictated by his heart, his truth, his essence. For if any trade, work or labor is performed with that “truth” (it can also be called love in its broadest sense), no further reward will be needed that is outside that realm. The artist has to demand good work from himself, shaped and stimulated by the deepest respect for himself and for the spectator, for it is through this that he takes on true meaning.

Art as an initiation game works as a kind of synthesis of religions, and every religion has a fascinating common essence. Any artistic manifestation or individual path acts as a kind of “religion” in itself for the artist himself, and the more authentic it is, the more exciting it can be for the viewer. And authenticity has nothing to do with the obsessive and banal search for originality. The artist can be the example of an individual who undertakes a courageous and constant search towards the configuration of a more harmonious, human and conscious reality. Art can be the example, therefore, of a new era of the heart, of a necessary and desired social change. It has the capacity to illustrate an elevated idea, through an infinity of languages and metaphors, where those initiatory messages are inserted through which to transit and grow, as a popular or Sufi story may have them.

I propose an art that revitalizes concepts and essential states to propitiate the encounter with our best part. I advocate a courageous art that promotes the most radiant part of this game, which is existence itself. I venture an art as a skylight. As a place of encounter and deep connection with the spectator. I imagine, I demand, I discover a refreshing, expansive, fertile art that can revive even the reviled concept of Beauty. I look for works that are conscious of themselves with the quality of expanding a message that plants a seed in the spectator to strengthen his freedom.

Art, as a fundamental part of our culture, is used as an expendable varnish, when it should be part of an essential structure. Art is being used, most of the time, as a commercial product that gives a certain glamour with certain advantages to clean money, when it is a real active, social and spiritual heritage. Culture should be considered from the highest political spheres as what it really is: a valuable device for shaping the nooks and crannies of the soul that sustains all of society in the end. History is read through culture and art, and that is something we seem to have forgotten. We are in a crisis of values, not an economic one, as we know. A crisis of the most ruthless materialism and the most fragmented thinking. Contemporary art has also reflected this part of today’s society and that is why it has often shown what society does not want to see of itself. That is why art is also in crisis, and those responsible could be most of the creators and managers, immersed in recreating the keys to a sick paradigm. We are in a time of deep and necessary reflection, it is time to reset the program and consciously rethink the beginning and end of our work as social, intellectual and spiritual beings.

Culture and education must not lose ethical values that unite people in harmony; let us advocate for a universal culture, where diversity is respected as the wealth of humanity and if possible in harmony with the environment; let us advocate for a conscious education, of respect, for coexistence and happiness. Let us work for an educational and cultural system that helps the individual to be aware, supportive and responsible; let us plant the seeds so that each individual has his or her own criteria and full freedom to configure himself or herself. Things that last have a truth that time has not been able to overcome. As if this truth had deep roots and the circumstantial were leaves or branches that fall and grow again according to the tendencies that condition the passing looks and judgments. Let’s try to sow truths that transmute lies. Let them be vivifying and positive for the spirit.

If we look back through the history of art, for example, we will realize that the voices that have survived (or have been rescued from the wreck), are those that have survived because of their authentic, profound, extraordinary character, for containing that “truth” that has served as an example and learning for the following generations. Almost all of the history of art is shaped by defects that have become virtues. There is no such thing as perfection, but there is an ideal. There is a source of inspiration or matrix in each artist, in each one of us. That matrix, that intimate and profound truth, connects a truth that we all have. That truth is the one that travels through time and space, touching beyond cultures, languages, genders, ages and circumstantial, superfluous conditions. And in its eternal search, the human and spiritual essence of the individual is experienced. The magic of imperfection is always seasoned by that “truth” of the creator, which is what manages to connect with the truth of the viewer through emotion. In the same way, each individual can become a true active magician of his own life. Any act, any trade, any work can contain that truth which is the true wonder of existence.

That is why I imagine a world made up of those essential values that can shape the work we each do. If we are aware of the power of intention that governs our actions, we can be the most active, subtle but forceful way of achieving an unimaginable paradigm.

We artists, therefore, need to be aware of the nurturing and transformative power of our work. We should become truly aware of the message we want to convey, and what codes and symbols we use in carrying it out. No matter the style or the discipline, in art we have achieved the necessary freedom to respect the great plurality and the infinite voices that shape it. But as I say, at this time we cannot forget our responsibility as artists, as well as people and/or citizens. The art of the new paradigm must use the committed imagination as a potentiometer of possible future realities, without ceasing to excite, captivate, enthuse, and even show a luminous alternative that points to possible more harmonious and desired realities.

Imagination is not only an escape route, it is a powerful engine as a source of creativity itself, it is one of our most valuable tools of expression, communication, self-knowledge and transformation. Hence the role of art in all this change, as a mirror and/or window to show the catharsis that underlies such urgent change.

Although artists, creators and visionaries have had to face a number of shadows that have been manifesting themselves from conservative positions, outside or inside, that are terrified of any change, they are optimistic, campantile and courageous minds that often venture and are ahead of their own time. Thanks to them, things are achieved that others consider impossible.