Artistic Fission

In 1918 the poet Apollinaire was in the hospital being treated for a variety of problems including a head wound from the war, and the Spanish flu. Despite his illnesses he managed to
organize a joint exhibition for his friends Matisse and Picasso. The reason for
the combined show was not just to showcase work which Apollinaire found
important, but also to show that despite different approaches to art, both
represented modernity, rather than competed for it. Apollinaire was both right
and wrong about public perception. His doctor, Jean Chaize, went to the show in
support of his patient, and even did some sketches of the Picassos. His
conclusion was that Picasso was a fake, and he could not believe that such
works were being sold for as much as 150 francs. Chaize concluded that Matisse
was therefore the winner of the Matisse/Picasso battle. This is exactly what Apollinaire
had wanted to avoid, as he himself was able to see the profound beauty in both
of these artists, and felt that together they represented both contemporary
perspectives and ancient universal ideas. He did succeed in the long run to a
great extent, as both of these artists are considered giants, and they have both
influenced generations of art and ideas.

In physics there are two known ways in which atomic energy is produced; fission and fusion. Humans have only successfully replicated one of these fundamental processes, in forms of power plants and bombs, which is
fission. Fission is massive breaking, and separating of structures towards
chaos. While we think of this as the splitting of uranium, it can be thought of
generically as well. Fusion, which is
not yet possible for production of electricity, is the generation of extreme
energy through the bonding together of sub atomic particles. Fusion is such a descriptive
term that it has been used metaphorically for so many things, from blending of
Asian and American cuisine, to the use of rock instruments in jazz music. So
often when words become common, like fusion, they are no longer thought of
consciously, but rather ingested. While we may not think about living in a
world of artistic and cultural fusion, we never the less do. This is powerful
and exciting, and has resulted in a cross pollination of ideas, languages and
arts. The question I have is that despite the beauty of fusion, is there a need
for artistic fission, like that which Picasso had done when he exploded into
the world? I would say that there is a need, as our fused experiences alone
lack the passionate experimentation needed to fully express the extreme
complexity of the world we are living in.

This idea seems counterintuitive, and in contrast to Apollinaire’s concept for a modern society; but it is not. In his view modernity could be expressed through the visions of Matisse or
Picasso, even though they were very different visions. In fact I think this is
exactly what Apollinaire had intended by this first joint exhibition. He showed that these two titans were looking
at the universe through completely different lenses. Matisse had flattened the
three dimensions we experience to two, allowing us to grasp the distant corners
of a scene as if we were at one with it. Picasso, with cubism, had expanded the
three dimensions, providing a representation of multiple dimensions in one glance.
Picasso also combined folk traditions, African masks and Parisian life. Picasso’s
world was one where physical, historical and cultural perspectives were placed
on a single canvas therefore reaching beyond our normal conception of
dimension. In essence Matisse created work in less than the dimensions we
normally perceive, and Picasso envisioned more. They had not fused their ideas,
but rather exploded in a fission of vision which would influence or own views
for a century.

I feel that similar radical explosions of creativity need to occur again. New sounds, new perceptive, new colors, and new angles, which don’t merely comment on popular cultural, but rather on experience as a whole.
What an amazing thing it would be to see and hear many new things that are
nothing alike, yet equally profound. A
true fission in the arts.