As I listen to probably the most expressive force in at least my world, John Frusciante , I think of expression in general. Music, painting, writing, anything. Expression. It’s everywhere. In fact, I think of a world without our own psyche and I imagine it being a miserable, chambering universe. Anyone can express, in fact that is what I am doing right now, blogging.
Expression is what comes out of us. It is projected from our lifestyle, ideas, and state of mind. For some, it is trapped inside of us like a lonesome popsicle in a freezer that waits to be “melted” in front of willing audiences. But lucky for us, many artists melt their popsicles for all of us to enjoy. Of course, just like everything else, some are better than others at putting out their feelings. Jimi Hendrix for example is regarded as the most influential artists in the world, taking his listeners to somewhat of a 4th dimensional universe. He meant so much to his listeners that when he died, so did an era. His vivid and brilliant expressions live on to influence billions today and surely forever on. But let’s not limit this discussion to music. Vincent Van Gogh was one of the nuttiest, not to mention influential, painters this universe has ever seen. He painted in lively colors and unique brushstrokes even though he was a depressed mentally ill man who eventually committed suicide. With such a paradoxical situation, who’s to wonder what he truely wanted express. Well if you think about it, he died to express. Call it a coincidence, he is said to be a pioneer of the Expressionism movement that started in Germany at the start of the 20th-century that stressed the meaning of “being alive.” No one can fully understand what these guys wanted to get across, but we can take a step back and appreciate how they took a part of their own soul and put it into their works.
On the flip side of this, I scold those artists who “sell out” their material. If ones material is based on a life before money, fame, and other attachments that come with “selling out,” how will your impending material feel or sound? In my experiences the truly pure artists are the ones who reframe from overexposure and stick to the lifestyle that inspires their expression. As I’ve said, your feelings are what come through in expression.
I have personally found expression as an escape, a way of finding some common ground with the world or whatever seems to be compatible with what I feel at that time. Even if not a soul cares about what I have to say, I still feel expressed.
Although we may not always understand what something means, like a psychedelic, trippy Led Zeppelin song, we can try to make what of it what we can. In fact, some artists leave it up to the viewer to decipher, like Brandon Flowers , who has actually said just that. But the fact of the matter is that we express to transform. We do it show the way we see the world and how we want others to see it. We think that the author expresses for themselves, but really, they do it for others; they do it to show off. They want people to learn from it, changing them. Expression. Try it yourself.
