When I was in 2nd grade, a teacher handed me the book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. What a joy for me to read! In the book, L’Engle posits the existence of something called a tesseract. As the image above demonstrates, a tesseract is the act of bringing together two distinct points to make the distance between them nearly zero. In other words, the shortest distance between two points is no longer a straight line, but a tesseract.
Call it a complex mathematical concept, an intuitive leap, a wormhole, or something else – tesseracts exist. In A Wrinkle in Time, the children use the tesseract to travel to a far distant planet where they have an incredible adventure.
My Own Experience with Tesseracts
When I was studying for my theater degree, we were doing a guided visualization in one of my movement classes. In that meditation, we were supposed to be climbing a cliff. The teacher told us that we could use any means possible to climb the cliff. As I sat there with my eyes closed, I heard my class mates’ voices express their exertion and frustration as they mentally climbed this cliff. Some of them were really pushing themselves to the brink in order to make it up this cliff.
In my mind, I looked at the cliff and thought, “Hey, I can just levitate up!” So I did.
It took about a minute, and I felt profoundly peaceful and calm as I did so. At the top of the cliff, I looked around, taking in the beautiful vista, imagining a sunrise over the valley and a cool breeze. I also felt a small sense of victory at finding such a clever way to climb the cliff.
The only problem was that I could still hear my class mates struggling. They were struggling to lift themselves up, screaming in frustration, or whimpering in terror. They were deep into their own visualizations of struggle, and I guiltily thought, “Am I doing this wrong?”
So in my mind, I started over. I forced myself to climb the cliff by hand, putting forth more effort so that I could be like all of the others around me who were struggling.
At the end of the exercise we sat in a circle discussing the experience of the guided visualization. I shared my experience of going back down and starting over and the teacher, who to this day remains an incredible influence on me, looked at me in confusion and asked, “Why would you do that?”
It was a great question. Why did I intentionally force myself to do it again in a more difficult way? Why did I allow myself to feel bad because I had done something that those around me hadn’t thought to do? In that moment, I learned about myself. I learned that I can be made to change what I do because of shame. I learned that I really want to fit in with those around me.
I also learned that I can be profoundly creative, and powerful.
Why Tesseracts Matter
My math geek friends will tell me that a tesseract as L’Engle explains it is not actually possible. A tesseract is simply an interesting math oddity. But here’s the thing – L’Engle’s concept of the tesseract set my imagination on fire. I’ve had tesseract moments in my life, where my creative intuition simply made a leap that my logical mind would not have.
If you are reading The Abundant Artist, you have probably had similar experiences. Whether it was a creative leap in your art or personal life, you believe in the power of intuition, spirit, or simply the creative unconscious.
Tesseracts matter because while there is a terrific focus on math, science, and engineering at the secondary school level, art and creativity are being relegated to secondary importance. Where I live, a local public school district has cut all funding for the arts at the elementary level. Think about that. There is literally zero funding for the arts. Children will not learn about painting, theater, or sculpture while they are in school.
Those who run our education systems bemoan the fact that we don’t have enough engineers and mathematicians. They compare the USA to China or India, where there are millions of new engineers graduating each year. Software and Asian countries are taking over the knowledge economy.We don’t have enough software engineers to fill the ranks in software startups. I don’t know if we ever will in the USA. Our population is just to small to compete with that kind of overwhelming efficiency.
At the same time, the business world is focusing on creativity as a means of separation. Fast Company magazine publishes lists of the most creative people in business. Books like Drive, Steal Like An Artist, and Imagine are gaining cache in business circles everywhere. PH.D’s are talking about the power of vulnerability.
You know that that sounds like to me? It sounds like the wider world is starting to re-discover that the skills of an artist are incredibly important.
The people who are teaching others about creativity on a large scale are business leaders and scientists. For all of our vaunted creativity, it seems that we who spend most of our time in the arts have somehow missed out on an opportunity to reach the wider world. It seems to me that the artists of the world are spending so much time commiserating with other artists about how hard it is to make it as an artist, that we fail to see the opportunity to play a bigger game.
Just like I held myself back. Because I was afraid I wasn’t doing what everyone else was doing.
As an art educator I could not agree more. The arts will be what gives the American economy an edge. Students who have both right and left brain skills are much more capable of looking at problems in new and different ways. Art Empowers Everyone.
@mary wahr Why do you think arts educators have such a hard time showing the value of the arts in comparison to math/science?
@CoryHuff Cory, I think it is because artists don’t subscribe to societal values about making money, profit, fitting in, etc. Artists and people who value artists are suspect in greater society — people don’t trust us, or mistrust what we are up to — what if we know something they don’t know? What if there is another way to live (like you levitating yourself up the cliff). This threatens the status quo — or people think it does — and much education in the United States is about maintaining the status quo. Why are we so worried about having scientists and engineers? There are thousands of engineers and scientists who would be happy to work in the United States.
@Sharyn Dimmick (The Kale Chronicles) Good points – but what about the fact that so much of the business world seems so focused on creativity right now? Why can’t Arts Educators take advantage of that?
@CoryHuff I’m not saying they can’t, Cory. Maybe some of them will — I don’t think the problem lies with the arts educators in articulating the value of the arts, but in our society’s receptivity to the message. I recently came from France where art, artistry and beauty are cherished by the culture. Probably some bits of the business world are interested in creativity (some high tech and green companies?). Many businesses like “team players” though and many artists don’t fit that description, although orchestral musicians do.
@Sharyn Dimmick (The Kale Chronicles) I’m going to challenge you on your assumption that the problem lies with society. Doing that abdicates power – it says that there’s nothing that the Arts Educator can do. Businesses that are competitive value more than team players. They value smart people who can get the job done, and find original solutions to tough problems.
Team players are good for entry level, rank and file employees, but leaders need more creativity, emotional intelligence, and sophistication.
@CoryHuff We are working very hard at changing that attitude. There are several studies that prove that students who have participated in the arts test better and are able to apply their knowledge in more creative ways. I think the biggest problems are funding and administration.
@Cory
I think that there are several reasons why the arts educators have such a hard time showing the value of the arts vs science and engineering, but the one that I find most ironic is that we show the product – and in the performing arts in particular we aim to make it look relatively easy – and so the “outsiders” our audience, our viewers, think that we just do it fairly effortlessly. They don’t understand – or begin to think about – the fact that a great performance comes from hard work, that a fine painting or perspective drawing is the result of hours of practice and study. They think that because a person has “talent” that they are not really having to work – they are just doing what they do. And these are the same people who will tell you that they “cannot draw a straight line” or that they “cannot get up on stage and speak in front of people.”
Maybe we need to talk about “the creative process” in the arts a little more than we do. It is in the process that all of the applied knowledge will reveal itself. Just think of the process involved in putting on a play and how it all revolves around interpreting text… For every single member of the production company. Talk about a six week intensive course in reading and comprehension, interpretation, and testing.
Love this Jim. I remember in high school that in my Senior English class we read A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At that point I had been involved in theater for about four years. My classmates could barely read the Elizabethan English that Shakespeare used, and I remember thinking that it was so sad that my classmates couldn’t appreciate classic literature.
Well said sir. I’ve been sitting down and rethinking about why exactly art is necessary,(It is and always has been.) what that means to me as an artist and how to establish myself as a much needed member of society. How can I serve my community and myself in the most constructive way?
@ElenaKaulenas Good things to think about, indeed! Would love to hear more about what you come up with.
@ElenaKaulenas You are not alone! I’m in a fine arts program and often wonder about this myself. It is so unfortunate that schools do not have discussions about the ‘why’ and only care about the ‘how’ and the ‘what’.
@ElenaKaulenas Share your enthusiasm for art with the community. It may as simple as getting involved with a local art group or institute. The more art and artists the public sees the more valid we become.
Excellent post!
A tesseract is also known as a hyper-cube, a four-dimensional object. A square, drawn on a piece of paper has two dimensions, width and length. A cube is a three-dimensional square. A tesseract is a four-dimensional cube. It is usually drawn as a cube within a cube, with lines connecting the eight vertices, representing a cube that extends (or expands) outward in six different directions.
@raymondkhouston Yes, thus the mention of the interesting math oddity. I knew someone would mention the 4 dimensional cube. 😉
Thank you for touching on the personal inner space of creativity and the cultural shift towards creativity. I get so focused on my internal stuff that I isolate myself from the larger picture that is looking to engage creative people.
A very good read.
Kristin
because artists are too busy creating 😉
I read through the posts. When you are talking about companies getting interested in creativity, I think it depends on the company. I just left a corporate environment – it wasn’t interested in creativity. Many companies talk a good game of empowerment & out of the box thinking – but they are still just trying to lead you to their already forgone conclusion.
Also, and you might disagree with me on this as well. But, schools are state supported. And since they became mandatory in the 30’s the goal has been to get the masses ready for the assembly lines – or now the cubicles. I think “they” keep reducing funding and cutting arts programs precisely because “art empowers”. On the other hand I am not saying we are dis-empowered but rather that we have to go at it from a different angle.They are cutting the arts funding in grade schools where I live as well. My favorite quote is “Art is Power and People with Power Always Have Art.” It’s the first thing people do when they gain money or power; collect art. I do believe that we are moving from technology & information into creativity – and it will be revolutionary – but probably not through the schools.
Sherrie Phillips no doubt many companies aren’t interested in creativity. The trend that I’m seeing is that there are a lot of people and companies who really are interested though. Fast Company posting a top 100 list, books about creativity becoming very popular. yet…it’s not the artists that are leading the discussion (with a few notable exceptions).
Why aren’t artists leading this discussion?
@agoodhusband I agree w/ @austinkleon that it requires diff skillsets. & IMHO most artists aren’t even interested in teaching/sharing.
@agoodhusband they’d have to be interested. Artists must focus on their own needs first IMHO. @austinkleon
@AGoodHusband Artists are a funny bunch. Most have a very conservative streak, for all their “creativity”.
@gapingvoid @natasha @austinkleon so…we need artists who are less selfish, more interested in broader vision.
@AGoodHusband @natasha @austinkleon Good luck on that one 😀
@AGoodHusband @natasha @austinkleon Most people I know who have truly mastered a craft are pretty conservative.
@agoodhusband @gapingvoid @austinkleon Sharin yrs of hard earned knowledge/practice to others free,regardless of merit, is avoided. Respect.
@natasha @gapingvoid @austinkleon I’m not talking charity. I smell a biz opp, along with a chance to do good
@agoodhusband true!
@agoodhusband but really, the ones that have knowledge usually don’t have any level of participation in their own communities, or artists’
Thanks for posting this, Cory. I ADORED The Wrinkle in Time series.
I believe creativity is our greatest untapped resource. It’s vital for success now. I agree with Sherrie (whom I know) that many organizations are paying lip service to creativity.
That’s why companies who operate in a creative way and are wildly successful in all ways are models for us. Not to do it their way, but that it is possible.
I believe that it’s innovate or die. And I plan to innovate while having a blast doing it.
Long live artists and creators in every sector!
@cynthiamorris5 thanks!
Which companies do admire for their creativity?
Thanks Cory, you’ve brought the important point of artists not being vocal about what we want and believe to be true.
As an art director in a large company, I once participated in a business leadership meeting where the program director asked all participants what their thoughts and ideas of what it meant to be an artist was. In other words, what they thought of artists.
I was pleasantly surprised to learn that most thought artists to be interesting people who think outside the box, who bring new, fresh ideas to the table. I had feared we were thought of as flakes or “off the wall”. Clearly it was my own ideas and definitions that had to be challenged and changed.
It is definitely time for artists to take ourselves to the next level and to discuss the importance of art and the difference it can make in the lives of all people. Art is self expression; it is up to us to do so.
@PatriceFederspiel I love this story! I’m always telling artists that they don’t understand how interesting they are just by the nature of what they do every day. What is mundane to one person is incredibly interesting to another.
Hi- I may have come into this convo too late, but I’d like to add my a couple thoughts. First of all, there were all sorts of coincidences with reading this story and the comments. I am an art educator at a school in Paradise Valley, AZ called Tesseract! One of my main objectives in this position is to provide a variety of opportunities to my students to develop their creativity and to see themselves, all of them, as creative people. I’m proud to say that my school is definitely supportive of this idea (the staff read Drive as summer reading).
Also, there is a movement to change the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) focus in education to STEAM (Adding the essential Art and Design component to innovation). I believe it’s a small movement still, but it’s a discussion and the word should continue to spread. I heard RISD President John Maeda speak about this at the National Arts Education Conference next year. I am happy to say there ARE art educators out there pushing the issue, and in a very inspiring way (of course!). If you are interested, here are a couple of sites: http://stemtosteam.org/ and http://www.steamedu.com/
Thanks for your story… and website!
@EmilySueSchneider Thanks so much for this. Good stuff to know! I will definitely check out Stem to Steam. What do you know about efforts outside the secondary education world?
@CoryHuff @EmilySueSchneider As far as I know, it’s definitely being pushed as K-12 initiative. I’m actually an elementary ed art teacher. There is no better time to reinforce creative habits than when kids are young and naturally curious and creative! Not sure if that’s what you meant in your question…