Creation of New Dimenssions
Translating the Lines
Parvaneh Farid
University of Winchester
February 2013
The art allows the mind to travel where logic looses its right of entry. Our civilisation is not built on the ideas of those who have conformed to what was possible, but on the courage of those who have let the bird of imaginations soar to unexplored and unsafe horizon of impossibilities.
An artist takes risk to see what is forbidden to see, to imagine what is forbidden to imagine and to deliver what is not expected to be delivered.
In a world which is saturated with rules and regulation which guarantee our social popularity and comfort, we may rest back and relax confidently at price of loosing our authentic self. In such world the art and the artists are not of exception unless they consciously free themselves of those norms and regulations which are merely formed to allow some in and to keep others out. For example, if you can keep up with rhymes, you are considered a poet and if you cannot, you are not a poet and therefore you are not allowed to express yourself in poetic forms. These forms of acceptance or rejection within an artistic group could become most destructive when believed by the expresser/artist her/him-self.
The fear of rejection and loosing identity can also become the main reason for the artists of different disciplines to avoid translating the lines of their usual art format into an unfamiliar one. This could happen due to both internal and external pressures. The internal pressures force the artist to stay with her/his usual media because s/he has more control and experience in expressing her/him-self with that. The external pressures; such as market and fan clubs, also pigeon-hole them within the popular artistic field for better earning and/or keeping an easier mental access.
Breaking through the fear of translating the lines of one art format into another provides the artist with an opportunity to find him/her-self in a virgin world of possibilities. It allows the artist to feel free to see, free to be one-self, and to create in an innovative manner, regardless of what is expected of her/him. That is partially due to being a beginner in a new field which has not imprinted its norms on his/her mind.
“Poet Robert Hayden was fond of saying that poetry is the art of saying the impossible, by which he meant, we may presume, that the poet attempt to discover methods by which ineffable realities (emotions, ideas, sensations, believes) could be translated into some sort of verbal formula by which they could be understood. Also implicit in this the statement is whether the same information might be conveyed in another, more direct method, or is there something valuable accomplished by the indirection with which poetry communicates to us the artist’s vision –the process of gaining access to meaning is integral to the meaning itself.
Another thing Hayden was found of noting is that so often the most popular – if poetry has any sort of popularity these days – is usually mediocre poetry because it can be easily understood. For while poetry, like all language, is a form of communication, if it merely reminds us of what we already know, then it probably does not stretch us beyond that our present state of understanding, the very goal that worthwhile art demands of us.
Not that being reminded of what we know is unpleasant or without any value, but great poetry, poetry with lasting merit, takes us from our present state of awareness to some place else, some place we may not have ever been before, some level of understanding we did not formerly have. But it is usually not any easy trip because the vehicle with which poetry transport us from here to there is figurative language – metaphors, symbols, allusions and other difficult rhetorical devices that forces us to meditate, to ponder, to use that part of our minds that is not often exercised.”” (Hatcher, John S. and Hemmat, Amrrollah (2002)The Poetry of Tahirih, Oxford, George Roland, P16)
Although I agree with Hatcher and Hemmat that interpretation when they say poetry,- I would say the art in general - like all language, is a form of communication, but I do not agree with them saying the indirect method of communication which a poet - I would say an artist – employs is merely responsible to stretch the mind of the reader. Rather, I would expand that idea by claiming that escaping the rules of the reality true translating the lines of the thoughts into the lines of poetry cause not only the reader minds stretches, but the poet’s/artist’s creativity also develops new dimensions into its creativity.
They say that “because the vehicle with which poetry transport us from here to there is figurative language – metaphors, symbols, allusions and other difficult rhetorical devices that forces us to meditate, to ponder, to use that part of our minds that is not often exercised.” I would claim that it is not merely the fact that figurative language of poetry forces us to ponder and use the part of our mind that is not often exercised causes development, but the notion of one set of invisible line – thoughts- being translated to another.
In Tahirih’s poetry lines of Tahirih’s thoughts and feelings are translated into lines of invisible imaginary pictures, then they are translated into the lines of figurative language / poetry. In my work, I translate Tahirih’s figurative language back into invisible lines of imagery pictures in my mind, then I translate these figurative images from my mind into visual lines of figurative images and calligraphy design.
I agree with Hatcher and Hemmat’s that if the poetry- I would say the art in general – would only say what we already know what would be the use of it but the form of comfort. The arts should provoke the mind for further understanding and I believe and try to show that this takes place much better through translating the lines of one art format into another.
Translating the lines of thoughts into art formats could challenge, the this gave norms, could be done for the sake of escaping persecution of the oddities, could be done by the artist in order to courting the communication for only a few to understand, hence can prolong the life of the message and overcoming dangers of this drawing the of.
